


Baby, It's Cold Outside

by WinterSky101



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Caroling, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Falling In Love, Season/Series 05
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-06 04:12:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 21,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterSky101/pseuds/WinterSky101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who ever would have guessed that a partner Christmas caroling contest would lead to all of this? Not Buffy or Spike, that's for sure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Answer is No

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place right before _Into the Woods_ , which means Riley has not yet left Sunnydale. However, he is still going off and getting bitten by vampires and that will come into play later in this fic. I think the only thing that's out of place in the timeline is that Joyce is already out of the hospital. I am aware that this is earlier than she is released in the show, but some future chapters wouldn't work as well if Joyce were in the hospital, so I took some creative license.

As Buffy glared at the slip of paper in her hand, she found herself wishing Willow never saw the flyer at the Bronze. Because who else would have done this? Not Xander, not Anya, not Tara… Buffy briefly toyed with the idea of this being Spike's fault, so he could get a good laugh, but that didn't seem likely. Giles never went to the Bronze, so that ruled him out, and Dawn had been grounded for the past week. And unless Riley got a personality transplant, he would hate this as much as she did.

 _Okay,_  Buffy told herself ruefully,  _so maybe it does seem like he_ has  _had a personality transplant, but this is still too extreme for him._  That left only Willow.

 _I'm gonna kill her,_  Buffy thought angrily. She glanced up at the door of the Magic Box, waiting for it to open. Her fist unconsciously clenched and the paper crumpled. Buffy didn't care.

The bell jingled as the door opened. Buffy got up and stormed over as Willow and Tara entered. Tara looked confused, but Willow obviously knew what was going on. Buffy waving the slip of paper in her face only heightened Willow's surety of the reason behind her friend's anger.

"What the hell, Willow?" Buffy yelled.

Willow shrank back a bit, but stubbornly faked her innocence. "What do you mean, Buffy?"

Willow's voice was surprisingly steady. That annoyed Buffy even more. "You know what I'm talking about, Willow! This!" Buffy waved the paper wildly.

"Okay, Buffy," Tara interjected, her voice mostly steady, even in the face of an irate Slayer. "What are you mad about?"

"This!" Buffy shoved the slip of paper at Tara.

She smoothed it out and read the words, then looked up at Buffy, confused. "What about it?"

"I  _told_  Will I didn't want to do this, but she signed me up anyway! Damn it, Willow, why can't you listen to me?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Xander cut in, going over to the girls. "Calm down, Buff. Whatever Willow did, it can't be-"

"Look at what she signed me and Riley up for!" Buffy handed the paper to Xander. He barely seemed to be able to keep in a laugh as he read it. Luckily, Buffy didn't notice this.

"What is it?" Anya asked from at the counter. Xander waved her over and she joined the group.

As she read the paper, her face gained the expression she normally had when she was going to say something way too blunt. "Well, hopefully you and Riley can have some nice orgasms after this to help get over this."

"Anya!" Buffy cried, her face red.

"Ahn, remember how I told you that we  _don't_  discuss other people's orgasms in public?" Xander asked in a low voice.

Anya didn't seem at all embarrassed. On the contrary, she didn't seem to understand why Xander was making a bit deal over this. "What's wrong with it? Wouldn't you want to discuss our orgasms with people?"

Xander sighed and dragged Anya over to the side to talk to her privately, while Buffy and Willow continued their argument.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Willow?" Buffy demanded.

"I thought you two would have fun!"

"You  _know_  Riley and I are rocky, and you sign us up for this?"

Willow shrank back a bit, but kept her ground. "I thought it would help!"

"How would this  _help_?" Buffy demanded. Willow was about to respond when the bell jangled again and a blanket-clad figure rushed in. It bumped into Tara accidentally, and as she stumbled, barely managing to catch herself on the table before her, the figure gave a yelp of pain. "Spike, what the hell are you doing here?"

Spike pulled off the blanket and looked at Buffy. "I heard some rumors about the crazy bint you're fighting. Glory, is that her name? What about you? Can hear the bloody noise in here from down the street!"

"Buffy's mad because Willow-" Xander started, but Buffy interrupted him.

"Nothing that has to do with you, Spike."

Spike ignored the heavily implied  _Go away_  at the end of Buffy's statement and instead went to the table, putting his feet up as he sat down. "Really! Slayer's angry at someone that's not me! Well, this is a nice little change of scene. Should be interesting."

Buffy's anger was overflowing and Spike was the perfect target for her. "Shut up and go away, Spike. This is between me and Willow."

"What's between you and Willow?" Giles sounded confused as he left his office.

Buffy barely kept in a groan of frustration. "This has nothing to do with the rest of you, so stay out of it!"

"Buffy, whatever it is, it surely can't be _that_  bad."

"Reserve your judgment until you hear what she did," Buffy muttered darkly.

"Then tell me!" Giles protested.

"Yeah, I'd like to hear what's got the Slayer all hot and bothered too."

"Spike!" At least three angry voices chimed in together to yell at Spike.

He rolled his eyes. "Kill a bloke for askin' a question," he muttered. Everyone ignored him.

"Buffy, I think you're blowing this way out of proportion," Tara stated calmly.

"Agreed," added Xander. "It could be worse. It's not actually that bad." His face grew thoughtful for a moment. "Actually, maybe Anya and I could-"

"Don't even think about it, Xander Harris," Anya interrupted from her post at the cash register, which she had resumed after their discussion.

"But it could be fun!" Xander protested.

"I won't give you any orgasms for a week if you do." Xander looked both embarrassed by the threat and scared of it at the same time.

"I'd still like to know what's going on," Giles stated, annoyed.

"I signed Buffy and Riley up for a competition that was advertised at the Bronze," Willow admitted.

"After I said I didn't want to do it!" Buffy added.

"I still don't see the gravity of the situation, Buffy. Surely it isn't that bad-"

"Giles, Willow signed Riley and me up for the partner Christmas caroling contest!"


	2. What's the Sense in Hurting My Pride?

Spike almost fell out of his chair, he was laughing so hard. "It's not funny, Spike!" Buffy snapped.

Spike looked at her, tears of mirth streaking down his face. "Not funny? Are you bloody kidding? You, and Captain Cardboard, singing…" Spike's voice trailed off as he started laughing again.

Eyes narrowed, Buffy stomped over and punched Spike in the face. Hard.

"Bloody hell!" Spike yelled loudly, mirth gone. His hand went to his face as he gingerly touched his nose. It was bleeding.  _Damn it!_  he swore internally. He might love Buffy, but still… "Bitch," he snapped at Buffy.

She pointedly ignored him and resumed glaring at Willow. "Why did you do this?" she demanded.

Willow shifted uncomfortably. "I just thought it might help you and Riley. With the whole rocky-relationship thing."

Spike straightened slightly. So he wasn't the only one that realized G.I. Joe and the Slayer weren't going to last. The look on Buffy's face showed she knew it too. Interesting. Then Buffy took a slightly threatening step towards her friend, who backed away, looking scared. It was time to calm Buffy down.

"Slayer," Spike stated gently, taking her arm. She yanked it out of his grasp and shoved him away hard automatically, but it shocked her back into thinking normally. Spike managed to catch himself on the table, but the chair hit his ribs pretty hard. The others looked slightly confused at his actions, but he didn't mind. Willow shot him a grateful look, and Tara slipped towards him.

"D-do you want me to help you w-with your nose?" she asked, obviously in return for his help with Buffy. Spike put his hand to his face again. There was still a slight trickle of blood. "Come on. I-it'll be no trouble." Slightly bemused, Spike allowed himself to be led off. Tara brought him into the training room and got a clean rag. Very gently, she wiped the blood from his face. "Is your nose broken?"

"Don't think so, Glinda," Spike replied, watching Tara carefully. Her stutter had stopped, but that might have just been a coincidence. "So, how are you and Red?"

Tara blushed madly, but retaliated with confidence. "How are you and Buffy?"

Spike stared at Tara, panic starting to build up. "There's nothing going on between me and her," he replied automatically.

Tara smiled slightly, turning to put the bloodied rag with the others. "But is that all you want?" she asked innocently.

Spike's panic was mounting. "W-why would there be anything else I want?" he asked in return, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably.

Tara laughed slightly. "Spike, the others might not see it, since frankly, they don't want to, but I do. You're in love with Buffy." Anxiety was overtaking Spike. If he could hyperventilate… Well, he might not need air, but he was still getting pretty damn close to hyperventilation. "Spike? Are you alright?" Tara looked worried. "I won't tell anyone, I promise."

"You can't tell." Spike's voice was hoarse with fear. "Please, Tara. If they knew…"

"They wouldn't believe me if I told them anyway," Tara replied soothingly. "And I won't tell them. I wouldn't do that to you."

"Please," Spike begged, not thinking for a moment about his pride. "Don't tell. They'll kill me if they know."

"I'm sure they won't," Tara soothed. "But I won't tell them. I give you my word."

"Thank you," Spike replied in a gasp. He stood and went towards the back door.

"Where are you going?" Tara asked.

Spike peered out the window. "It's dark. I was going to go back to my crypt. Tell the Slayer, will you? If she wants my help with patrolling, she can get me there. I probably won't go out."

"You really love her, don't you?" Tara asked, scrutinizing Spike.

He shifted under her gaze. "Yes, I do," he replied softly.

In a surprising move for the shy witch, Tara kissed Spike's forehead gently. "Then I wish you the best," she whispered. "I'll tell her where you've gone."

"Thanks, Glinda," Spike replied with a slight smile, then he opened the door and stepped out into the not-at-all-cold California winter. It was nearly Christmas, but the temperature wouldn't have been out of place during the summer in most states.

Spike missed the chill of winter, which had been present from October on in England when he had been young, occasionally even beginning as early as September. The only sign that it was midwinter in Sunnydale was the presence of a ridiculous amount of Christmas trees. They looked out-of-place among the green that normally meant summer or spring. It didn't seem at all to be the right time for Christmas, but that hadn't stopped Spike from decorating the lower part of his crypt.

He had nicked lights from the store and strung them up around his bedroom. He didn't have a tree, but he had some ornaments, also stolen, hanging from the string of lights. And he had the one ornament he had saved from his childhood over a century ago: a small portrait of Spike and his mother, painted when he had been six years old and still human. After he had staked his mother, an event he didn't like to think about, Spike had went to find the ornament and tucked it into his pocket. No matter where he and Drusilla went, or what happened to them, he always had the ornament with him.

This was the first year that he had actually hung it up since his childhood. While he had been living with Dru, he had been scared that she would do something to it, and the only two Christmases without her hadn't been spent in a place where he could hang it up either. Christmas two years ago had been celebrated in the DeSoto and the one the previous year had been in Xander's basement. Now that he had his own crypt, it seemed only right that Spike finally hang up his childhood remnant.

Spike arrived at his crypt and entered the upper room. He sensed the presence in the corner without even trying, but he didn't let on and went over to heat up a bag of blood from his refrigerator. Only when the person was right behind him did he speak.

"Thought you were going to sneak up on me, did you?" he stated conversationally. "Gotta do better than that to get the jump on a master vampire, Finn." The microwave dinged and Spike pulled the blood out. He only turned to face Riley once he had poured it into a mug. "What do you want?" he asked as he turned, sipping the blood almost delicately.

"I want you to stay away from Buffy," Riley replied in a firm tone.

Spike laughed. "Want to make sure the big, bad vampire doesn't hurt the itty bitty Slayer? Nice thought, Captain Cardboard, but she doesn't need your protection."

"She doesn't need yours either. I don't want you going on patrol with her anymore."

"You sound like an overprotective mother," Spike remarked sarcastically, setting down his mug. "What're you gonna do if I don't keep away?" In response, Riley pulled a wooden stake out of his pocket and went to press it against Spike's chest. It was a quick move. Spike was quicker. Before the stake touched him, he had moved out of the way, game face instinctively replacing his features.

Riley laughed derisively. "Chipped, remember? You can't hurt me, and you can't stop me from doing…  _this_." Without warning, Riley sent a roundhouse kick flying towards Spike's chest. Spike staggered backwards and was caught off-guard by a punch to his chin. His head snapped sideways, but this time, he was prepared and he caught the next punch. He was careful not to hurt Riley - damn chip - but he wasn't about to let him continue the assault.

The two stood like that for a moment, Riley breathing hard and Spike not breathing at all, before Riley yanked his arm out of Spike's grip. Spike didn't stop him and merely picked up his mug of blood again, taking another nonchalant sip.

Riley went to leave the crypt and turned in the doorway right before he stepped out. "You stay away from Buffy," he warned again. He slipped the stake back in his pocket. "She doesn't need you, and she sure as hell doesn't want you, so leave her alone."

And as much as Spike hated it, he knew the words were true.


	3. My Mother Will Start to Worry

Buffy trudged home after patrol, tired and covered in goo from some sort of demon that she had fought. She had to admit, for all their faults, at least vampires dusted when they were killed and cleaned up after themselves. Many other creatures of the night weren't that considerate.

As Buffy entered the door, she could hear Joyce talking with someone. It wasn't Dawn, that much she could tell from what her mother was saying. Buffy hung back, listening.

"When I was little, I lived in a place where there was actually snow during the winter." Joyce chuckled. "Even the idea seems strange and foreign when you live somewhere like Sunnydale." There was a pause. "I miss snow."

"Me too," replied a voice that made Buffy's blood go cold. "Not that we got much in England, mind," the voice added. "Bloody rain all the time. But sometimes we would have a white Christmas. My mum and I-"

Spike's voice - for that was who it was, of course - cut off abruptly as Buffy stormed into the kitchen, stake at the ready. "What the hell is going on here?" she demanded, glaring at Spike furiously.

"Slayer, I-" Spike began, looking startled.

"I invited him over," Joyce interrupted firmly.

Buffy looked at her mother in shock. "Why would you do something like that?"

"I like Spike," Joyce replied stubbornly. "Dawn is off at her friend's for a sleepover now that she's not grounded, and you were out patrolling. I called Spike over for a mug of cocoa. I know he likes it with the little marshmallows."

"He's  _soulless_ ," Buffy protested. "He's a killer, Mom."

"He's chipped," Joyce countered. "He can't hurt me."

"What if the chip stops working?" Buffy demanded. "What would you do then?"

"What, you think I'd drain your mum?" Spike put in, looking affronted.

"Why not?" Buffy countered viciously. "You're a soulless murderer, after all."

"Buffy!" Joyce gasped, sounding shocked.

"I like your mum," Spike snapped, on his feet in an instant. His eyes flashed gold with fury. "She's actually  _nice_  to me. I'm not gonna bloody well kill her."

"Why should I trust you?" Buffy spat.

Spike gave her the dirtiest look she had ever seen. "If I wanted to kill your mum, I could have done it already," he snarled. "She looks alive to me." Spike turned sharply on his heel, his leather duster flaring out, and stomped out the door. "Thanks for the cocoa, Joyce," he called as he left.

"You're welcome, Spike," Joyce called back.

Buffy watched her in shock. "Spike is a  _killer_ ," she said, looking at her mother. "Why are you having hot cocoa with him?"

"He's always very polite to me," Joyce replied, putting the mugs in the sink. "You could have been a bit nicer."

"He's tried to kill me!" Buffy exclaimed.

"So did that Angel," Joyce replied, sounding bitter as she said the name. No matter how many times Buffy had tried to explain the situation to her mother, she had never seemed to understand what had happened with Angel. "You still dated him."

"He had a soul."

"Yes," Joyce replied, turning to face Buffy. "That was what it took to keep him from trying to kill you and everyone you love. Spike doesn't have a soul, and he doesn't try to hurt us."

"He's chipped," Buffy said for the second time that night. "He couldn't hurt us if he tried."

"I'm sure he could find a way," Joyce replied. "He could have someone else kill us, or try to work through the pain."

"This isn't making me want to trust him any more," Buffy put in dryly.

"My point is, he hasn't done any of that," Joyce finished. "It's like he said. If he wanted us dead, we would be dead. As we're not…" Joyce shrugged.

"I don't like you hanging out with him," Buffy protested.

"I thought I was your mother, not the other way around," Joyce replied mildly. "I get bored here all alone, Buffy. You're always off patrolling or with your boyfriend and Dawn is too cool to spend any time with her boring mother. Xander spends all of his time with Anya, and Willow spends all her time with Tara. Giles is always off minding the shop. But Spike finds time to spend with me."

"Mom…" Buffy sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm always careful," Joyce replied. She shifted her blouse to show a small crucifix on a chain around her neck. "I'm not an idiot. But I've never had to use this."

"Hopefully, it'll stay that way." Buffy looked down at the demon goo covering her, which she had forgotten about. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Love you, Mom." Buffy pretended to lean in for a hug, causing Joyce to squeal and pull away.

"Hugs after you shower," Joyce said firmly. Buffy laughed and went upstairs, but her smile faded once she was out of sight. Her mother had given her a lot to think about. She did have a point, after all. Spike had so many opportunities to kill them, and he had never taken any of them. It did almost seem like he cared.

"But he  _can't_  care," Buffy protested quietly as she pulled off her disgusting clothes. "He doesn't have a soul. He can't do it."

 _But he cared for Drusilla for years, and that was without a soul,_  an argumentative voice in Buffy's head disagreed.  _Why can't he care now?_

"He didn't really love her," Buffy argued as she stepped into the warm shower. "It wasn't really love, no matter what he says."

 _Who are you to decide what love is?_  the voice asked snidely.  _Look at your relationships. Angel tried to kill you and Riley-_

Buffy stopped that thought in its tracks. She was not going to think of how much her relationship with Riley was failing. That was not going to be a thing she thought about. Forcing her mind to clear of all troublesome thoughts, Buffy closed her eyes and allowed the hot water to cleanse her body of the disgusting goo, hoping it would cleanse her mind of unwanted thoughts as well.


	4. Your Eyes are Like Starlight

"Damn bloody Slayer," Spike seethed as he stomped away from Buffy's house. "Always acting so damn superior and treating me like dirt." He kicked a rock viciously and felt vindicated when he heard the dull thunk of it colliding with a tree. But the biggest problem with the situation wasn't that Buffy had been a bitch. It was that, despite that, Spike couldn't bring himself to hate her.

"I'm a bloody lovestruck fool, that's what I am," Spike muttered to himself. He wondered fleetingly if Joyce had spiked that cocoa, but he didn't  _feel_  drunk, and that wasn't the sort of thing she would do. He just was, as he had said before, love's bitch. There was nothing he could do about it.

"I'm fine," Spike muttered to himself. "I'm fine with it. As long as the Slayer doesn't know how I feel about her, it's okay." A momentary horror overtook Spike as he thought of the possibility that perhaps Tara would tell, but she had said she wouldn't, and he trusted her.

Spike was shocked out of his thoughts by the sound of a soft laugh near him. He looked around, all senses alert, to try and figure out what it was. He caught sight of a demon staring at a young woman on the other side of the road.

"What're you looking at, mate?" Spike asked as he approached the demon slowly.

"Bet she'd have a nice heart," the demon replied. "Bet it would be delicious. Wanna share? I'll take the heart, you take the blood."

"Nah, I'm on a strict diet," Spike replied.

The demon looked at him with incredulity on his face, then his eyes went wide. "Oh shit," he swore. "It's you."

Spike nodded. "One and only," he replied, swinging at the demon harshly. The demon ducked to block the hit, but Spike had been prepared for that and sent out a spinning kick that made his duster flare up behind him. The kick hit the demon solidly on the side. "Ow! Bloody hell," Spike groaned as his leg connected. He was fairly certain the strike hurt him more than the demon.

"I'm a Kravesh demon," the demon spat at him. "I knew you were whipped. I didn't realize you were stupid."

"Right," Spike replied, remembering his demonology. "Kravesh demon. Your whole torso is basically armored. But you know what isn't?"

"What?" the demon asked in a patronizing tone.

"Your ugly mug," Spike replied, punching the demon hard in the face. The demon howled in pain. He retreated, as did Spike, and they circled each other for a moment.

"I can't believe you're doing this," the demon spat. "Going against your own kind for the Slayer. She's tried to kill you before and she'll do it again. Do you think she cares about you or something?"

"I can't hurt humans," Spike replied, gesturing at his head. His chip was common knowledge among the non-human side of Sunnydale, so the demon knew what he was talking about. "But I can hurt demons. The way I see it, I've gotta have something to beat up. I really don't care what it is."

"Traitor," the demon snarled.

Spike shrugged. "Maybe. But I'm not going to get killed on sight by the Slayer. It's a perk."

"How can you call yourself a vampire?" the demon snarled.

Spike shifted into game face, glaring at the demon. "I think I look like a vampire. I mean, I can't see myself in the mirror, so I'm not sure, but-" The demon swung at Spike's face. Spike ducked to avoid it. "Oi! Not the face!"

"Would you prefer to leave a beautiful corpse?" the demon asked sarcastically. "You're gonna be dust when I'm finished with you."

"No, I won't," Spike replied coolly, then he was a flurry of blows and action. The demon tried to respond in kind, but his heavy plating was weighing him down as well as protecting him. He wasn't as fast as Spike. And when it came to brute strength, Spike had enough to snap the demon's neck.

The demon fell. Spike left it on the ground. It was a Kravesh demon, and they dissolved after about an hour if you killed them. They dissolved faster if you dismembered them, but Spike didn't have a weapon and he didn't feel like getting his hands dirty. Either way, no one would see the demon's body. Or at least, they probably wouldn't. If they did, it wasn't his problem.

Spike returned to his crypt, feeling somewhat better with the catharsis of killing something. But now that the adrenaline rush had worn off, he couldn't stop thinking about Buffy.

Her eyes were the most beautiful part of her, Spike decided. Her entire body was beautiful, of course, but everything paled in comparison to her beautiful blue eyes. They showed so much about her, when she was mad, when she was happy, when she was scared. Spike had never taken much stock in the idea that they eyes were the windows to the soul. It was a right poncy idea, if you ask him. It sounded like something William the Bloody Awful Poet would write. But with Buffy, it was true. Her eyes showed the depths of goodness in her soul. Spike had no soul, but something in him still recognized the beauty of the goodness in Buffy.

"Bloody beautiful," Spike muttered to himself as he got a mug of blood. Buffy was the first thing in over a hundred years that made Spike want to write poetry again. Once, he had even found himself wondering what rhymed with "bronze skin" before he stopped himself. He had told himself that he would never write poetry again. Of course, he didn't hold to that oath, but he did try to keep to it as much as he could. And that meant no poetry about Buffy. There could be no written evidence of his emotions for her.

That wasn't to say Spike didn't occasionally  _think_  about poetry he could write about Buffy. He just didn't physically write it down. But wisps of poetry still floated through his mind.

_Starlit eyes 'neath wandering skies_

_Bronze skin hides the warrior within_

"No!" Spike hissed, forcing the thoughts out of his mind. Pining over Buffy would do him no good.

But regardless, Spike couldn't bring himself to stop.


	5. I Really Can't Stay

"Riley!" Buffy forced the most real-looking smile she could muster on her face as she saw her boyfriend walking over to her. She was waiting for him outside the Bronze, wearing a more practical outfit than she normally would for a date, considering she was going to patrol after they talked. A tiny part of her mind wondered if she would meet up with Spike on her patrol. She sort of wanted to apologize for what she had said the night before. She hadn't seen him through the entire day, which gave her apt time to mentally debate whether to apologize to a soulless vampire or not. On the one hand, Buffy had been a bitch and had said some pretty terrible things. On the other hand, Spike was a monster who had tried to kill her.

Decisions, decisions.

"Hi, Buffy." Riley wore an easy smile as he gave Buffy a quick kiss in greeting. "So what was the terrible thing you wanted to tell me about?"

"Willow," Buffy replied ruefully. "She signed us up for the partner Christmas caroling contest."

Riley arched an eyebrow in response. "Can't we just tell them we don't want to be in it?"

Buffy shook her head. "The lineup is finalized. We're going seventh. I asked the official to take us out and explained the whole situation, but he was very stern.  _Once the lineup is finalized, we can't make any changes_." Buffy's parody of the official was ridiculous, but Riley didn't laugh.

"So what song should we do?" Riley asked with a long-suffering sigh.

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"Not something religious," Riley suggested immediately. "I don't really know any two-part Christmas songs."

" _Baby, It's Cold Outside_ ," Buffy replied automatically. Riley gave her a strange look. "It's a two-part Christmas song. You know:  _baby, it's cold outside!_ " Buffy sang.

Riley shrugged. "Never heard of it. I guess we can do that if you want." Riley moved as if to steer Buffy into the Bronze, but she pulled back a bit. "What?"

"I'm going patrolling," Buffy replied. "I really need to get going."  _And apologize to Spike,_  she added mentally.  _Maybe._

"Do you have to go?" Riley asked, a slight frown on his face.

"Yeah, but it'll be quick," Buffy replied, itching to leave.

"I can go with you," Riley offered. "I'll need to get some stuff from my place, but-"

"It won't be a long patrol," Buffy interrupted. "I'll be fine."

"Okay." Riley looked a bit disappointed as Buffy left, but she didn't want to go patrolling with him. No offense to Riley, of course, but he only slowed her down. He was only human, and Buffy had to spend the patrol worrying about his safety. The only one that was evenly matched to patrol with Buffy was-

Damn it, why did her thoughts always seem to come back to Spike?

The vampire was nowhere to be seen as Buffy reached the cemetery, but that didn't mean he wasn't lurking somewhere. Buffy forced the thought of him out of her head as she patrolled. There were a lot of fledgling vampires that she killed quickly, but it made her uneasy. If there were new vampires, there had to be an older vampire making them. Older didn't necessarily mean dangerous, but with Buffy's luck, it probably did. With a sigh, Buffy continued patrolling, her stake at the ready.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Buffy was blindsided by a huge vampire, sending her stumbling to the side. The vampire looked like a football player, but Buffy didn't recognize him. "This is the Slayer?" he asked, his fangs causing a peculiar lisp. "You're smaller than I expected."

"And you're uglier than I expected," Buffy retorted, readjusting her grip on her stake. The vampire laughed as he lunged at her again. She dodged, but he was quick on his feet and regained his balance. "Ugh, not fair. Fat is  _not_  supposed to go with graceful!" Buffy protested.

"This is muscle, blondie," the vampire snarled. "I've got at least a good hundred pounds on you."

"I'm stronger than I look," Buffy shot back.

The vampire flung himself at her, and this time, Buffy didn't manage to get out of the way in time. "Really? Show me how strong you are."

Buffy struggled wildly, but the vampire's sheer weight was pressing her down. He laughed again. "Bye bye," he hissed.

Buffy was just deciding what her witty response would be when the weight disappeared as the vampire dusted. Standing above her was Spike, a stake in his hand.

"You saved me?" Buffy asked dumbly.

It was the wrong thing to say. Spike's jaw tightened in obvious anger. "Even after everything I've bloody done for you and your stupid friends, it's still always the tone of surprise," he spat. "Yes, I bloody well saved you. I didn't have to, you know. I could have let you die. I wouldn't have been blamed. Wouldn't have been my fault. But I saved you. Not that it matters or anything. I'm still a  _soulless murderer_." Buffy winced slightly at her own words being thrown back at her. "Well, I saved you. Not bloody likely that I'll do it again, if this-"

"Thank you," Buffy interrupted.

Spike stopped abruptly, derailed. "What?"

"Thank you for saving me," Buffy repeated. "And, um, I'm sorry about last night."

"Oh." Spike looked shocked at what she was saying.

"Yeah. I, um, said some mean things last night, and I was unnecessarily cruel, so I thought I'd do the apology thing," Buffy replied. She winced again at how stupid she sounded. Spike didn't seem to notice. "Don't say anything that makes me regret apologizing," Buffy added quickly, imagining Spike's sarcastic response.

"I wasn't going to," Spike replied. There was a tension between them, some sort of connection that Buffy could almost feel in the air. She had to leave.

"Um, I've gotta go," she said quickly. "More places to patrol. I've gone through this whole cemetery, but there were a lot of fledglings. If you see any, stake them for me."

"Of course," Spike replied. Buffy turned to leave. "And Slayer?"

"Yeah?" Buffy asked, turning back around.

"Thanks for apologizing, pet."

"You're welcome," Buffy replied, the hint of a smile spreading across her face as she walked away.


	6. Get Over That Hold Out

Captain Cardboard was acting strangely.

Spike hated Riley Finn with a burning passion. There was no denying that. But Spike also knew that if anything happened to Riley, it would hurt Buffy, and Spike had no desire to see that happen.

He was such a sap.

Spike had been patrolling near one of the seedier parts of town after he and Buffy had talked and he caught a glimpse of a surprising figure. Riley Finn, the self-righteous little soldier, walking around in the equivalent of a demonic red light district. Spike tailed him from a distance, because if he decided to do something stupid like try and take out a demon, he would have a horde on him in instants. In that case, Spike would defend him for Buffy's sake, no matter how horrible it would be to save Riley's life.

Honestly, Buffy was the only reason Spike hadn't killed Riley yet, headache be damned.

Spike watched as Riley entered one of the vampire brothels. He waited for a moment, waiting for Riley to get kicked out. It never happened. That could only mean one thing. Riley had been there before. Spike considered getting closer, but considering a lot of demons and vampires would be more than happy to kill him on sight, he stayed away. He had seen enough to know what was going on.

Riley was going to vampire whores.

The first thought that hit Spike was raw fury. Riley had someone as wonderful as Buffy, and he was going to cheap vampire whores? Then the pieces started to fall together. Now that Spike thought about it, that explained the turtlenecks Riley had been wearing recently. Spike had thought it was ridiculous, given the temperature, but Riley had been wearing turtlenecks religiously for the past week or so. Vampire whores tended to bite and leave marks, which would raise suspicion if anyone saw. Not that the turtlenecks were much less suspicious, but they were less obvious than a scar or bandage.

Spike looked at the building for another moment, then trudged away, his mind whirring. He had a decision to make.

Tell Buffy or don't tell Buffy?

Telling Buffy would make her furious at Riley, which was a definite plus. It would probably be the last straw in their relationship, causing them to break up. But, if Buffy broke up with Riley because he had been cheating on her, it would pain her immensely. Spike didn't want that to happen. Breaking up was fine, but hurting Buffy wasn't.

Damn it. Having a moral compass was such a pain. Spike almost missed the good old days, where anything that caused the Slayer pain was something he loved. Now, the mere thought of hurting Buffy made him cringe. But he had to tell her. If Spike waited, it would only hurt her more. And if Buffy found out that he knew and didn't tell her… Well, that would probably mean goodbye, Spike.

His decision made, Spike started walking to Revello Drive. He hated what he had to do - and he really  _really_  hated Riley Finn - but he knew it was for the best in the long run. As silent as a ghost, Spike slipped in through Buffy's window into her bedroom. He had only been in there a handful of times before, so he looked around curiously. There were lots of pictures of Buffy and her friends, but Spike had expected no less. The jacket Buffy had worn earlier was on the floor, with a few stakes next to it. Buffy was lying on a big bed, curled up under her blankets. She shifted slightly as Spike walked over to her, wondering if he should try to wake her up or if she would kill him.

"Hello?" she asked, opening her eyes blearily. "Dawnie?"

"It's me," Spike replied quietly. Buffy jerked upright, the sheet falling away. Spike was excited for half a second, but she was wearing pajamas. Spike forced himself to focus again.

"Get out," Buffy snarled.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't have a good reason," Spike countered. "As usual, I'm here to help you."

"Get out or I will drop you out head-first," Buffy replied sweetly.

Spike gave her a look. "I wanna show you something," he replied seriously.

Buffy frowned, seeming to notice that he had a point. About time. "What?"

"You need to see this," Spike replied cryptically. If he told Buffy, it would probably mean a stake, and she wouldn't believe him. Spike had to show her. "But we need to move if we wanna get there in time," he added. Buffy looked down at her pajamas and gave Spike a pointed look. Spike realized what she was trying to say immediately.

"Oh, please!" he scoffed. "Like I give a bloody damn." He turned, knowing Buffy was stripping down behind him. It was agony, but he couldn't turn around.

Soon enough, Buffy was dressed and they were out the door. "Where are we going?" Buffy asked. Spike didn't respond, just kept walking. He sped up, forcing Buffy to jog to keep up with him.

"Spike," she demanded. "What's up?"

"Just follow me, Slayer," Spike replied. He almost said something like "I'm sorry about this," but he realized how that would sound and decided he liked not being dust.

They reached the warehouse without incident. Spike opened the door to let her in. She looked horrified as she saw the people being bitten. "Don't stop, Slayer," Spike muttered. "This isn't what we're here for."

Buffy went to the stairs, then turned back to Spike. He nodded slightly. A vampire tried to stop him - idiot - and Spike shoved him to the floor. Buffy continued up the stairs.

When they reached the second floor, Spike led Buffy down the hall, following Riley's scent. It was clear as could be, considering how much blood had been shed in that room. Spike supposed Riley had to be such a regular he had his own room. The thought disgusted him.

Spike opened the door and nodded inside. Buffy gave him a hard look before entering. Her face went white instantly. Spike peeked in too. Riley was sitting on a mattress on the floor. A female vampire was in his lap, drinking from his arm. He didn't seem to see Buffy.

"Harder," Riley told the vampire dispassionately. Buffy let out a little gasp. Riley looked up and saw her. His face went pale as well.

"Buffy," he said softly, his voice sounding more resigned than surprised. Buffy blinked, her eyes filling up with tears. Spike thought she was going to run, but she surprised him. Instead, she punched Riley in the face. Before Spike knew what was happening, she had crossed the room and had her stake out. Spike knew what she was going to do a second before she did it.

"Slayer, no-" he started, but he was too late. Buffy staked the female vampire in the heart and she exploded into dust.

"Damn," Spike muttered, looking down at the floor. A commotion had already started up, so Spike knew they were aware that something was happening.

They were well and truly screwed.


	7. I Ought to Say No, No, No, Sir

Buffy turned away from the settling dust to glare at Riley. She had punched him hard in the jaw just a moment ago, and the bruise was already starting to form. A part of her felt guilty, but she was more just pissed.

"How the hell could you do this to me?" she demanded.

Riley refused to meet her eyes. "Buffy, I-"

"You know what, save it," Buffy spat, interrupting him. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say."

"Buffy, please," Riley pleaded. "Just hear me out. I-"

"I thought I said I didn't want to hear it!" Buffy interrupted. "Nothing you can say will make me want to kill you any less."

"Buffy, I know I screwed up, but let me explain," Riley begged.

"How long?" Buffy demanded coldly. "How long have you been going being my back with vampire whores?"

"Not too long," Riley replied. "I just… I wanted to see what it was like. After you let Dracula bite you-"

"I did not  _let_  him bite me," Buffy spat.

Riley nodded quickly. "I know. I know. Bad choice of words. But I just wanted to see what it was like. To get bitten, I mean. But I didn't want to get drained or turned or anything, so I came here instead."

"To have sex with whores," Buffy finished in a dry voice.

"It wasn't about the sex!" Riley protested. "They needed me."

"They needed your  _money_ ," Buffy spat back.

Riley sighed. "No, it was more than that. When I was with them, they needed me like you never did."

"What are you saying?" Buffy demanded, furious again. "Are you saying this is  _my_  fault?"

"I'm saying you never let me in!" Riley shouted. "I'm saying you block me out at every opportunity. You didn't tell me when your mother was in the hospital!"

"Oh, forgive me for not calling you when I found out my mom could be  _dying_ ," Buffy spat back. "God, I can't believe you're saying this!"

"I just want to be able to protect you sometimes!" Riley admitted furiously. "Sometimes I want to feel like you need me!"

"I'm the Slayer, Riley. I protect normal people. They don't protect me."

"What, so you're saying I'm normal now?" Riley shot back. "Think about what I've been through, what I've done! How exactly am I normal?"

"You're just human!" Buffy protested. "Nothing more! You're not even on those drugs any more! Anyway, I don't need your protection!"

"Yeah, well sometimes I wish you did!" Riley shot back.

"So you've got a problem with me being stronger than you?" Buffy accused.

"Sort of!" Riley replied, throwing his hands in the air. "I want to be able to protect you, to keep you from getting hurt. But you don't let me."

"Excuse me, how is this about me?" Buffy demanded. "I just found you in here with a vampire whore hanging off of you. I don't think I'm even remotely at fault for that."

"But I did it because of you!" Riley shot back.

"Because of me?" Buffy shouted. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I did it because you don't love me!"

Buffy recoiled as if she had been slapped. "What do you mean, I don't love you?" she asked, her voice suddenly weak.

"You don't, Buffy," Riley repeated. "I'm the rebound guy after Angel. And I know it. I've always known it. But recently it's just gotten really hard to deal with. When I'm with these vampires, when they're drinking my blood… They need me. They care about me in a way you never do."

"So you'd rather have a vampire as a girlfriend," Buffy replied bitterly.

Riley shook his head. "I'd rather have you. All of you. But when I'm with you physically, I know you're miles away mentally. And to be honest, I think I'd rather not have you at all than have you be like that."

"I can't believe this," Buffy stated in a shocked voice. "You went to vampires, risked your life, and slept with other women because you think I don't care about you. And you thought  _this_  was the way to change that?"

"I know there's no changing it," Riley replied sadly. "But I can't leave you. I just can't. So I came here to try and deal with the facts."

"You screwed up," Buffy told Riley. "You screwed up monumentally. I can't believe you would do this to me."

"But Buffy, the fact that you keep saying that only proves my point," Riley told Buffy sadly. "Because you keep asking how I could do this to  _you_. Not to us. You don't care about our relationship, you don't care about me. You just care about yourself."

"Oh,  _I'm_  the one only caring about myself?" Buffy demanded, furious again. "I'm not the one that  _cheated_!"

"I'm sorry," Riley said softly. "I'm sorry, I really am. But you knew our relationship wasn't working anyway."

"I still thought we had trust," Buffy replied. Riley looked down. There was silence for a moment.

"Um, Slayer-"

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy and Riley snapped in unison.

"No, but-"

"Spike, what the hell is so important-" Buffy stopped mid-sentence as she realized all of the vampires from downstairs were standing in the doorway.

"Slayer," the vampire in the front hissed. "You killed one of us. We're not going to let you get away with that." All of the vampires were in game face. The lead vampire tensed and got ready to pounce.

Spike sighed, pulling out a stake. "I'm assuming we're doing this the hard way?" he asked Buffy.

Her grip around her own stake tightened. "Is there any other way?" she quipped, although her heart wasn't in it. She didn't know if Riley had a stake with him. She really didn't care.

Buffy bent her knees slightly, balancing her weight better, as the head vampire hurled himself at her, fangs out and golden eyes blazing.


	8. Listen to the Fireplace Roar

The leader of the vampires lunged at Buffy, snarling. It seemed to be a cue, as all of the other vampires swarmed forward as well. Spike was instantly a whirlwind of action. The other vampires were all out for blood, and while Spike's wouldn't be anywhere near as satisfactory as Buffy's, he was still the traitor-to-his-kind vampire that worked with the Slayer.

"How could you fight against us?" one vampire snarled. "How could you do that? We are your kind, not that bitch."

"You're bloody annoying, that's what you are," Spike retorted, staking the vampire quickly. Another one immediately took her place, fangs bared. Spike retorted by slipping into game face himself, which was far more impressive. He was a master vampire, after all, while the vampire in front of him couldn't have been more than two years old.

"You think you're going to scare me?" the vampire growled. "I'm not scared of the likes of you."

"You should be," Spike hissed back. "I'm the Slayer of Slayers, William the Bloody, trained by Angelus himself. You should be dead scared." Spike staked the vampire quickly as he hesitated for just a second. "Or maybe just dead."

"Terrible joke," Buffy quipped, calling over to him.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Really? We're fighting a horde of vampires and  _now's_  when you decide to critique my jokes?"

"What better time than the present?" Buffy replied.

Spike rolled his eyes. "And you say  _my_  jokes are bad," he groaned.

"Buffy, behind you!" Riley gasped, but Buffy was two steps ahead of him and had staked the vampire behind her before he even got through the first syllable of her name.

"I told you, Riley, I don't need protecting!" Buffy insisted. "You're the one that needs protecting right now. You don't even have a stake!"

"Could you two have your lover's quarrel some other time?" Spike requested as he staked his third vampire in as many minutes. "Maybe some time when we're  _not_  being attacked by a horde of vampires out for our blood?"

"If they want your blood, I guess they really hated some pigs," Buffy called over to Spike sweetly.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Save the witty repartees for the vampires you're trying to kill," he suggested. Buffy rolled her eyes so dramatically Spike could see it from across the room.

The fight continued for the next few minutes. One of the vampires managed to rake his fingernails - which were really more like claws than any fingernails had the right to be - down Spike's chest, tearing his shirt and ripping through his skin. The wounds were bleeding sluggishly, but they weren't bad. Spike knew he would be healed in a matter of hours. Buffy seemed fine, and Spike couldn't care less about Riley.

"God, where are all these vamps coming from?" Buffy demanded as she staked yet another vampire.

Spike shrugged. "I'm guessing all the vampires in the area came to see if they could kill the Slayer. It's like a big vampire bonding party."

"Well, it's gonna end pretty damn soon," Buffy replied. "We're going for the stairs."

"Whatever you say, pet," Spike replied with a sigh. He pressed forward, pushing and staking his way to the top of the stairs. Buffy and Riley were right behind him.

The downstairs of the building had fewer vampires, but they were still there. "Spike, do you have your lighter with you?" Buffy asked.

Spike's eyes widened as he understood what she was planning on doing. "I've got some matches," he replied, tossing the almost-full book of matches over to Buffy. "Lighter's out of fluid."

"They'll do." Buffy lit a few of the matches and threw the now-burning book onto the couch. Almost instantly, it was up in flames.

Spike recoiled, feeling the heat lick his face, "Maybe you could  _not_  do that when I'm standing right in front of the couch?" he requested angrily, stepping away as the fire spread across the floor.

"If you don't want to burn with the building, I'd suggest you get out," Buffy replied. Spike rolled his eyes and raced towards the door, Buffy and Riley behind him.

Once they were outside, Buffy slammed the door shut and looked around. Spike knew she wanted to bar the door, so he passed her one of the cinderblocks that were on the ground near him. She accepted it easily and began building a little wall. Riley watched as Buffy effortlessly stacked the cinderblocks, making it impossible for any of the vampires inside the building to get out.

Just as she stacked the last block, the screams started. Buffy turned on her heel and started to walk away. "Wait!" Riley called, going after her. "You're just going to leave them in there to burn to death?"

"They're vampires," Buffy replied coldly. Spike stepped away, deciding he would stay out of the ensuing argument. "I'm the Vampire Slayer. I slay vampires."

"This isn't slaying. This is torture," Riley retorted.

"That's rich, coming from a member of the Initiative," Spike muttered under his breath.

"They wouldn't be caught in a burning building if not for you," Buffy replied, glaring at Riley. "So if you feel bad about what we're doing, it's on your conscience."

With that, Buffy walked away, leaving a shocked Riley behind her. Spike clapped him on the shoulder.

"Great job, wanker," he told him, walking off as well. He had no desire to stay near the building, where he could hear screams and smell burning flesh. Nor did he have any desire to be near Riley Finn, who was the biggest tosser in the universe, if you asked Spike. Really; someone who got to be that close to the Slayer, who got to be in her confidence like that, throwing it all away? And for some two-bit vampire trollop? Spike couldn't even fathom the idea. All in all, the alley was not somewhere he wanted to be.

Besides, he had a mug of blood waiting for him at home.


	9. My Father Will Be Pacing the Floor

By sundown the next day, Buffy was still exhausted from the events of the night before, but she was also more than capable of beating her punching bag until the chain was creaking so ominously it seemed likely the bag would go flying across the room. It was only then that a clearly worried Giles intervened.

"Um, Buffy, are you alright?" he asked, pulling off his glasses and polishing them. "You seem a little… upset."

"I'm fine," Buffy replied, attacking the punching bag again. Her actions belied her words, however, and Giles seemed unconvinced.

"You haven't seemed yourself all day," Giles said, frowning as he perched his glasses on the bridge of his nose again. "And you haven't said a thing about Riley, nor have we heard from him. Does your mood have anything to do with that?"

"My mood has _everything_  to do with that," Buffy replied bitterly. Giles gave her a look that clearly indicated she was to continue. "Have you ever had anyone cheat on you?" Buffy asked.

Giles frowned. "Um, yes, actually. When I was in college. I found out that my girlfriend at the time was, um, also in a relationship with another man. She chose him over me." Giles shrugged. "It was a long time ago. Why do you ask?" Suddenly, Giles's eyes went wide. "You don't mean to say that  _Riley_ -"

"With vampire whores," Buffy replied, punching the bag and pretending it was Riley's face. "He paid them to drink from him and sleep with him."

"Buffy, I'm sorry," Giles said softly.

"And he had the nerve to say it was  _my_  fault," Buffy added. "He said he only did it because I didn't love him enough or something. I mean, what the hell, right?"

"You are not to blame for Riley's transgressions," Giles told Buffy sternly. "What he did was his own fault. If he felt that way, he should have told you, not run off with some sort of…trollop."

"Thanks, Giles," Buffy replied, smiling slightly and going over to her Watcher. He smiled back, giving her a hug and pressing a tender kiss to the top of her head.

The bell that indicated the door opening jingled. Buffy sighed, pulling back a little. "Anya would be apoplectic if she found out you didn't go see to a customer," she told Giles, waving at the door to the training room.

Giles nodded, going to step out. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked, turning to face her.

Buffy nodded. "I think I will be," she replied. Giles looked at her for a moment longer, then nodded and stepped out of the room.

Due to her Slayer senses, Buffy could hear Giles on the other side of the wall. "Oh," he said in an almost-disgusted voice. "You."

"I take it you've talked to Buffy," Riley replied in a resigned tone. Buffy felt as if her knees might give out, but she forced herself to get it together. She punched the bag again, even harder than before.

"Yes," Giles replied shortly. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to her." Buffy hit the bag even harder. "Is she in the training room?"

"I'm not sure that she'd like to see you," Giles told Riley sternly. "After what you did to her-"

"Let him in," Buffy called. Although she really didn't want to speak to Riley, she knew she had to make a clean break between then. This was the time to do it.

"Are you sure?" Giles asked, poking his head back in the training room. Buffy nodded. "If you're certain," Giles replied, looking resigned. He stepped aside to let Riley enter the room.

"Hey, Buffy," Riley said, stepping towards her. Buffy hit the punching bag again. "Look, we need to talk."

"I think we pretty much said all that we needed to say last night," Buffy replied coolly.

Riley sighed. "Some of my old friends from the Initiative came over to my house last night," he told Buffy. She forced herself not to react.

"And?"

"They want me to go on a mission with them," Riley replied. "Very covert. No contact with civilians."

"And are you going to go?" Buffy asked, punching the bag yet again.

Riley sighed. "They're leaving tonight," he replied. Buffy recognized his casual sentence for what it was.

"Is that an  _ultimatum_?" she demanded, turning to look at him. "Are you seriously giving me a freaking ultimatum?"

"I'm leaving," Riley replied, as if she hadn't spoken. "Unless you can give me a reason to stay."

"You know what?" Buffy demanded, starting to pull the tape of her knuckles. "Screw you, Riley."

"Buffy-"

"If you wanted me back, this was  _not_  the way to go about it," Buffy hissed. "I don't respond well to threats."

"Buffy, it wasn't-"

"We're done," Buffy snapped.

Riley looked shocked. "What?"

"We're done. D-O-N-E done. This relationship is over."

"Buffy, please-"

"If you wanted to be with me, maybe you should have thought of that  _before_  you went to sleep with vampire whores," Buffy snapped. She threw the tape on the floor and grabbed her sweatshirt off the ground.

"Buffy!" Riley protested as Buffy stalked out of the training room. "Buffy, listen to me!"

"I don't think you have the right to be making any demands of Buffy," Giles put in, blocking Riley from being able to follow Buffy.

Riley looked furious. "I just want to  _talk_!"

"I'm done talking," Buffy snapped. "And I'm done with you. Goodbye, Riley. Have fun on your super secret mission." With that, Buffy stepped out of the Magic Box, the door closing behind her. For a moment, she considered going home, but comfort from her mother and Dawn wasn't what she wanted. Instead, Buffy turned the other way, making her way to the cemetery.

The sun had barely set, but that would probably be soon enough for some vampires, at least.

Buffy was itching to kill something.


	10. Put Some Records On While I Pour

When Spike heard noises coming from the upper part of his crypt, he sighed and went up to check what demon had barged in this time. He wasn't expecting those noises to be Buffy ransacking his cabinets, clearly searching for something.

"'Scuse me, pet, but what the hell are you doing?" Spike asked, coming up from the lower level.

Buffy turned to look at Spike. Her eyes were desperate. "I need something to help me forget," she told him. "Where do you keep your alcohol?"

"…What?" Spike asked, staring at Buffy with wide eyes.

Buffy made an irritated noise. "What's so hard about my request? Riley and I broke it off officially, he's probably already off on his mission for his stupid military friends, and I want something to drink. Hand it over."

"I thought you and alcohol were-"

"Un-mix-y things?" Buffy interrupted. "For tonight, Buffy and alcohol are  _very_  mix-y things."

"Are you even old enough to legally drink?" Spike asked, studying Buffy's face.

She huffed. "Since when do you give a damn about laws?"

"Your mum will kill me if I let you get drunk," Spike replied.

Buffy narrowed her eyes. "I'll kill you if you don't," she replied, pulling out a stake. "Difference is, I'll actually do it, whereas we both know my mom won't. Probably."

"Crazy chit, you are," Spike replied irritably, but he pulled out a bottle of whiskey and tossed it over. "Here." Buffy made no move to leave. "Oh, don't tell me you want to drink with me!" Spike protested.

Buffy shrugged. "I don't want to drink alone. And think of what might happen to me if I'm drunk and defenseless somewhere!"

"Manipulative bint," Spike groaned, but he didn't send Buffy away. "Come on downstairs, then. It's more comfortable."

"I don't think I've ever been down here before," Buffy mused as she followed Spike into the lower level of his crypt.

"I've no bloody clue why I'm letting you down here now," Spike retorted.

Buffy looked around as she got to the bottom rung of the latter. "Festive," she commented, looking at the lights and ornaments.

"It's bloody Christmas, isn't it?" Spike replied defensively. "If I want to decorate, I can decorate."

"What's this?" Buffy asked, gravitating towards Spike's childhood ornament. "It looks old."

"It's older than your grandmother," Spike replied, steering Buffy away from it. He was  _not_  in the mood to go there with her. "And it's private. Do you want to drink or not?"

"Fine." Buffy opened up the whiskey and took a long drink. She made a face as she handed the bottle to Spike. "It tastes gross."

"You don't drink it for the taste, pet," Spike replied, taking his own sip. Buffy shrugged, conceding the point. She still made faces every time she took a sip.

"Riley's a jerk," Buffy proclaimed a few sips later.

Spike couldn't believe she was such a lightweight. "Is he now?" he asked, taking a sip of his own. To be fair, his sips were also a fraction of the size of Buffy's, which were huge. She had had a lot more to drink than Spike had.

"He gave me an ulta-ulto-ultimatum!" Buffy replied, stumbling over the word. Spike rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. "He told me that if I didn't give him a reason to stay, he would leave! So I told him to get out." Buffy pouted. "He's a jerk."

"I'd use a stronger word than that, but I agree," Spike replied, taking his own sip of whiskey. The bottle was close to empty. Spike decided it probably wasn't a good idea to break out another one.

"I killed things before I came here," Buffy told Spike in a conspiratorial tone. "I killed some vampires and a demon. He was ugly. I pretended he was Riley's dumb face." Apparently, that was a hilarious thing to say, as Buffy started to giggle hysterically. Spike was starting to see why Buffy didn't drink often.

"Well, Captain Cardboard is gone, so you've got a new beginning," Spike told Buffy.

She held out the bottle with a serious expression. "To new beginnings!" she said in a deep voice before dissolving into more giggles. She hiccupped as she finished off the bottle.

"Aw. There's no more left," she whined.

Spike sighed. "Then I'm all out," he replied.

Buffy gave him a hard look. "Are you lying to me?" she asked. "Cause you're a vampire, and I'm the Vampire Slayer. If you lie to me, I'll slay you."

"Sure you will, pet," Spike replied doubtfully, but he took away the bottle, just in case. Buffy had already put her stake down on the floor and Spike used his foot to nudge it under the bookcase. If giggly-drunk Buffy turned into angry-drunk Buffy, he didn't want her to have easy access to any weapons, especially not ones that could actually kill him.

"So you're really out?" Buffy asked, sounding like a little girl. Spike nodded. Buffy sighed.

"Well, I guess I'm drunk enough," she replied. "That was what I was trying to do, you know. Get drunk. Cause I don't wanna think about Riley."

"If I were you, I wouldn't want to think about Finn either," Spike replied.

Buffy frowned. "Finn?" she asked. Then her face lit up with understanding. "Oh! Cause his name is Riley Finn! I get it!" Buffy beamed. Then she stood, as if to go, but she started wobbling before she even took a step.

"Why don't you stay here for a bit longer?" Spike suggested, grabbing her arm. The last thing needed was for some vampire to take advantage of a drunk Slayer. Buffy flopped back down on the couch.

"M'kay," she replied. Suddenly, she was resting her head on Spike's shoulder, engulfing him with her scent. "You know, Spike, for a murderous vampire, you're not too bad."

Spike couldn't help but smile at that. "Thanks, Slayer," he replied.

"Buffy," Buffy told him firmly.

Spike's smile widened slightly. "Buffy."


	11. You've Really Been Grand

"Spike?" Buffy asked, her head still resting on Spike's shoulder.

"Yeah, Buffy?" Spike asked. Buffy could feel him breathing under her. She wondered why he did that. He was a vampire. He didn't  _need_  to breathe. It had to be habit. How strange. A vampire with habits.

"What should I do about the caroling contest?" Buffy asked, pulling her head away. "I can't do it with Riley. He's super far away and he's a jerk. What should I do?"

"I don't know, pet," Spike replied. "Find someone. Maybe the whelp will do it with you."

"The what?" Buffy frowned, not understanding. "What's a whelp?"

"I mean Xander," Spike replied. Buffy giggled. Spike calling Xander a whelp was very funny.

"Then why didn't you just  _say_  that?" she asked. Spike smiled slightly. "I'm gonna sing the song now," Buffy told Spike in a serious voice. "The one for the contest." She stood, ignoring the fact that she was swaying from side to side.

" _I really can't stay!_ " she sang. No one sang the other part. She pouted slightly, but kept going anyway. The show must go on, right? " _I've got to go away. This evening has been so very nice. My mother will start to worry. My father will be pacing the floor. So really I'd better scurry. Well maybe just a half a drink more!_ "

" _Put some records on while I pour,_ " Spike sang back, softly.

Buffy turned to look at him. He had a smile on his face. Buffy beamed as she continued singing.

" _The neighbors might think…_ " she sang, hoping he would continue.

" _Baby it's bad out there_ ," Spike crooned.

Buffy's smile widened. " _Say, what's in this drink?_ " She faked a scolding expression.

Spike chuckled as he sang the next line. " _No cabs to be had out there_."

" _I wish I knew how-_ "

" _Your eyes are like starlight now_ ," Spike interjected.

Buffy blushed. "  _-To break this spell_." That line was strange. Spike couldn't do magic. Buffy kept singing anyway.

" _I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell_." Spike mimed taking a hat off Buffy's head and she giggled.

" _I ought to say no, no, no, sir_." Buffy turned and took a step away from Spike.

" _Mind if I move in closer?_ " he asked as he followed her.

" _At least I'm gonna say that I tried_ ," Buffy sang as she turned back towards Spike.

" _What's the sense in hurting my pride?_ " Spike asked.

Buffy beamed. " _I really can't stay_ -"

" _Baby, don't hold out._ "

" _Oh, but it's cold outside!_ " they sang together. Buffy dissolved into giggles, falling back on the couch. Singing with Spike was a very silly thing to do.

"I don't know the rest," she admitted.

Spike grinned. "S'okay, pet," he replied. "I'm sure you'll learn them by the time there's the contest. It's not until Christmas Eve, right? It's only December 19th. You've got plenty of time."

"But I need a partner!" Buffy whined. Then her eyes went wide as a brilliant idea came to her. Of  _course_! "Spike, you should be my partner!"

"What?" Spike asked, looking shocked.

Buffy grabbed his hands and pulled him onto the couch with her. "You should be my partner. You already know the words, so you don't need to learn them. And if I have Xander as my partner, it'll be weird. And Anya will get mad cause she'll think I want Xander-orgasms." Buffy made a face at the thought. Xander-orgasms were not things she wanted. They were not of the good.

"I know they're not," Spike replied. Buffy's jaw dropped. Spike was replying to her thoughts!

"Can you read minds?" she demanded. Spike chuckled. Buffy didn't see what was so funny.

"No, pet. You said that aloud."

"Oh." Buffy didn't remember saying that aloud, but she supposed she must have. Ignoring that, she clasped Spike's hands in hers.

"Spike, please? Pretty please? Will you do the contest with me?"

"Why don't you ask me that again in the morning?" Spike asked. "When you're not drunk."

"I'm not  _that_  drunk!" Buffy protested. Spike raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe I am," Buffy admitted sheepishly. "But I know I want you doing this contest with me."

"Ask me again tomorrow if you're still sure," Spike repeated.

Buffy shrugged. "Fine." She yawned widely. "I'm tired."

"Follow me, pet," Spike replied. Buffy grabbed for Spike's hand. He seemed shocked by that. Buffy didn't know why. He said to follow her. That meant take his hand, right? Isn't that how it normally worked?

Spike led Buffy to his own bed. "Wow, this is nice," Buffy said, flopping onto it. "Really big. And super comfy. Me like-y."

"G'night, Slayer," Spike told Buffy, turning as if to walk away.

Buffy grabbed the back of his duster. "First, it's  _Buffy_. Second, where do you think you're going?"

"Back to the couch," Spike replied, turning around and looking confused.

Buffy shook her head firmly. "Nope! You're staying right here with me."

Spike chuckled. "I'd rather not wake up as a pile of dust, pet," he told Buffy.

She frowned. "A pile of dust can wake up?" she asked, confused. Then she shook her head. " _So_  not the point. I won't dust you. I promise. Come on. I wanna snuggle with someone."

"Um, no," Spike replied, taking a step back. Buffy pouted. "I don't snuggle, pet."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" Buffy wheedled, making the word about ten times longer than it should be. "I just want someone to be with me. I'll feel so alone if you're not here."

"No," Spike replied, shaking his head. "No way. You'll stake me in the morning." Buffy pouted, forcing a few tears to well up in her eyes. She could see Spike's resolve cracking.

"Alright, you manipulative bint," he sighed, getting into the bed. "But no-" Before his could finish his sentence, Buffy wrapped herself around him, snuggling her head into his shoulder. Spike sighed. "Cuddling," he finished. Buffy smiled slightly as Spike relaxed against her with a huff. "Or not."


	12. How Can You Do This Thing to Me?

Spike sighed as he lay in Buffy's koala-like grip. She had her arms around his torso and her legs wrapped around his legs. It was a wonderful place to be, lying underneath the Slayer.

Except for the fact that she was drunk and would undoubtedly kill him in the morning.

At some point, Spike would have to find a way to get out of Buffy's arms and as far away as possible. He would also have to make sure to hide all of his stakes and wooden furniture. He didn't want Buffy to be able to get her hands on any weapons that could kill him.

"Mmm," Buffy groaned, shifting. Her leg rubbed against Spike's growing erection. He stifled a moan. He had to get out of the bed sooner rather than later, or he might end up doing something he would regret. Like jerking off next to Buffy. That would be a huge mistake.

"Mmm… Spike…" Buffy mumbled. Spike froze. Buffy clutched Spike's duster even tighter. Damn. Wriggling his way out would be even harder now.

"You've gotta let go, pet," Spike whispered. Buffy didn't respond. But her grip on his body had loosened slightly, so Spike was able to slip out of his duster and out of Buffy's arms.

Buffy made a displeased noise and clutched the duster to her chest. "That's something I never thought I'd see," Spike muttered to himself. "The bloody Slayer cuddling with my duster. The world's gone topsy-turvy, it has." Buffy didn't respond, but for to grip the duster a bit tighter. Spike sighed, pulling the blanket up over her. Even though the California weather was ridiculous for the end of December, Spike's crypt was a bit chilly. Buffy nestled in under the blanket, still not letting go of Spike's duster.

Spike slipped out of the bedroom to retrieve another bottle of whiskey. He had been lying when he told Buffy that he was out, of course. But he couldn't in good conscience allow Buffy to drink even more than what she had already had.

God, since when did Spike have a  _conscience_  to deal with? The whole good-guy thing was a pain. But then again, if Spike were still a villain, the events of that night never would have happened. And Spike had to admit - to himself only, he would never tell anyone else - that he had had a nice night. Despite the fact that he was almost certainly going to be staked when Buffy woke up, the night itself had been nice.

"I'm head-over-heels, I am," Spike muttered to himself. "I need to get a bloody grip." But that was easier said than done, especially when Buffy was sleeping in the next room over and-

Spike took a big sip of the whiskey. Thinking about Buffy was a bad idea. Spike didn't need another Cecily, which is what would happen if he said anything to Buffy about his feelings for her. The only difference would be that Cecily didn't kill him when he admitted he was in love with her. It  _felt_  like she had, yeah, but she hadn't actually done it.

Spike could still picture Cecily perfectly in his head. He could see her beautiful dark hair, her pale skin, the way she would look in her lovely ball gowns… But when he thought of love, her face wasn't the one that came to mind. Instead, he saw tanned skin and blonde hair and classy-yet-formfitting clothing. Cecily wasn't the woman he loved anymore. Instead, it was Buffy.

"Why the hell can't I just go back to being evil and run off with Drusilla again?" Spike groaned to himself. But the thought of having the chip out and being with Drusilla wasn't nearly as appealing as it used to be. The chip really wasn't  _that_  bad. It had helped Spike out with Tara when her family came around, and it really wasn't that big a hassle if Spike couldn't kill humans.

"What sort of vampire am I?" Spike asked himself. Not even wanting to kill humans? That was ridiculous. It was unheard of for a vampire, if you discounted Angel and his stupid soul. At least Spike still hated Angel. That was a constant, no matter how many other things were weird.

"I wonder if Buffy would love me if I had a soul," Spike mused. He stopped himself right there, taking another big sip of the whiskey. Thinking about getting a soul was going too far. Spike was a vampire, goddamn it, even if he wasn't a very good one. He wasn't going to go off and get a  _soul_. Especially not to get in some girl's pants.

Except Buffy wasn't just "some girl." She was Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer extraordinaire and perhaps the most perfect girl Spike had ever met in around a hundred and fifty years of wandering the earth. And Spike didn't just want to get in her pants. He wanted more than that. He wanted love and compassion between them. He wanted an actual relationship, with trust and loyalty and all of the other things that went along with it.

"Get a bloody grip, William!" Spike scolded, smacking himself in the head. He was being ridiculous. No matter whether or not he got a soul, Buffy still wouldn't love him. She was a being of light, whereas Spike was a creature of darkness.

"She'll never have me," Spike told himself firmly. "She'll never be mine and I'll never be hers. So I should just stop thinking about it." Spike took a long sip of the whiskey. He had to stop thinking about Buffy. There would never be anything between them, no matter how much Spike hoped. He had to stop thinking about Buffy.

The whole not-thinking-about-Buffy thing lasted for about five minutes. At that point, Spike swore, put away the whiskey, and slipped back into his bedroom. Buffy was still there, snuggling up with Spike's duster. "Still can't believe you're doing that, pet," Spike muttered. Then he settled down into an armchair.

He would leave before Buffy awoke, if only so she wouldn't be able to stake him immediately, but for the time being, he would just sit and watch the Slayer sleep.


	13. My Sister Will Be Suspicious

Buffy woke up surrounded by the smells of cigarette smoke, leather, and whiskey, plus an earthy sort of scent. They were all smells that she associated with…

"Spike." Buffy jerked upright, the memories of the night before hitting her like a bowling ball. Nausea struck quickly and Buffy had to clamp her hands over her mouth to make sure she wouldn't vomit.

"Buffy?" Spike poked his head in the bedroom. He looked a little worried. "Look, pet, I swear, nothing happened last night and-"

"I remember what happened last night, Spike," Buffy interrupted. She wasn't being strictly truthful - she didn't remember everything - but she remembered most of what had happened, and it was enough.

Spike looked derailed. "Oh. Alright." He held out a bottle. "Painkillers?"

Buffy took two aspirin, fought to keep from vomiting all over the place, and made her way out of Spike's crypt. "You sure you're okay?" Spike asked, looking a bit concerned.

Buffy nodded. "I'm fine," she replied. "No one can know of this."

"Of course not," Spike replied, nodding. "Um, see you later, Slayer."

Buffy stepped out of the crypt into the sunlight. She couldn't quite believe that she had really woken  _cuddling_  with Spike's duster. And, if her memories of the night before were correct, she had gone to sleep cuddling with Spike himself.

"God, what the hell is wrong with me?" Buffy muttered. "I break up with Riley and go running into Spike's arms? I will never drink again." The lingering nausea made it all the easier to make that promise.

Buffy slipped into her house quietly. She didn't expect anyone to be awake. It was still early. No one would be up.

"Well look who finally got home?" a voice behind Buffy asked.

Buffy jumped. "Dawn?" she demanded. Dawn was smirking behind her. "What are you doing up?"

"It's a Wednesday, stupid. I've got school," Dawn replied. "Just because you've been out all week doesn't mean I am. Today's the last day before break."

"Damn," Buffy swore. She had forgotten that Dawn had school. "Dawnie, please don't tell Mom I've been out all night."

"Where have you been?" Dawn demanded. "Giles came over last night. He was worried about you. He said you and Riley broke up. And then you never came home. So where were you?"

"Dawn-"

"You smell like whiskey," Dawn said, wrinkling her noise. "And cigarettes." Suddenly, Dawn's eyes went wide. "Did you spend the night with  _Spike_?"

"What? No!" Buffy replied quickly.

Dawn's jaw dropped. "You did! You totally did! Oh my God that is so awesome!"

"What?" Buffy asked, completely lost.

Dawn squealed. "Does this mean that you two are dating?" she demanded.

Buffy made a face. "No! Dawn, Spike and I are definitely  _not_  dating."

"Oh." Dawn looked disappointed.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "In what universe is that disappointing?"

"This one," Dawn retorted. "Spike is super cool! Mom likes him. And he's a lot more interesting than Riley."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Buffy groaned. "Are you seriously saying that a soulless murderer would be a better boyfriend for me than Riley?"

"Spike isn't that bad! He helps us! He patrols with you and chats with Mom and always helps me with my homework if I need it."

"Spike helps you with your homework?" That was the first Buffy had heard of that.

Dawn shrugged. "He's lived through a lot of history. And he's good at English. Though you wouldn't know it from how he talks."

"Are you sure spending time with Spike is a good idea?"

"I always have a water bottle of holy water with me, just in case," Dawn replied dismissively. "But I've never had to use it. Spike wouldn't hurt me."

"Has everyone gone crazy?" Buffy demanded of no one. "Spike is your study buddy and he drinks cocoa with Mom!"

"Hey, smells like you were drinking more than cocoa with him," Dawn retorted.

Buffy sighed. "Don't tell Mom," she told Dawn firmly.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "What do I get out of it?"

"I'll let you keep studying with Spike," Buffy replied.

Dawn looked supremely unconcerned. "You can't stop me."

"I can stop Spike," Buffy threatened. "If I told him I would stake him if he went anywhere near you, how long do you think it would take for him to stop helping you with your homework?"

Dawn made a face. "That's not fair," she protested.

Buffy shrugged. "I'm the older sister. I get to make the rules. Now go. Your bus will be here in like two minutes."

Dawn stuck her tongue out at Buffy as she walked over to the door. "Hey, Buffy?" she asked as Buffy began to climb up the stairs.

"What, Dawnie?" Buffy asked.

Dawn shrugged. "Spike is a pretty cool guy. Just give him a chance. Please?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Get to school, Dawn." Dawn stepped out, closing the door quietly behind her. Buffy quickly checked on her mom, who was sleeping soundly. Buffy hoped she hadn't been too worried the night before. As far as Joyce had to know, Buffy had gotten home late from patrolling. To make sure the story would be believable, Buffy pulled off her clothes - she had been wearing them the day before, so they made it pretty clear that Buffy hadn't been home - and hopped in the shower.

Dawn's arguments refused to leave Buffy's head, but in turn, she refused to agree with them. Even if everyone else in Buffy's family had apparently gone insane, Buffy knew that Spike was dangerous.

Even if he hadn't done anything to hurt her when she was drunk the night before. Even if he had given up his bed for her and allowed her to stay so she wouldn't get hurt walking home. Even if he had been as comforting as any of her other friends would have been.

Buffy suddenly groaned and leaned her head against the wall of the shower. A memory of the night before had just resurfaced.

She had asked Spike to be her partner in the caroling contest.

 _That_ would be fun.


	14. Been Hoping That You'd Drop In

Spike jerked upright and practically ran to the door when he heard knocking. He knew chances were slim, but it could be Buffy, and if it was, he didn't want to give her the time to change her mind.

As Spike expected, the person on the other side of the door wasn't Buffy. Instead, it was Clem.

"Hi, Spike!" Clem was grinning widely, as he always seemed to be. "Is this an okay time?"

"It's fine," Spike replied, moving over to let Clem past. It wasn't quite dark enough for Spike to go out on patrol, and Buffy didn't seem to be coming over. As much as Spike wanted his night to be spent with a certain blonde someone, he didn't think it was going to happen.

"Whoa!" Clem exclaimed as he sat down. "Your crypt  _reeks_  of Slayer. Even more than usual."

"Slayer was over last night," Spike replied. "Got herself completely drunk and stayed the night."

"Is that why your duster smells like she was snuggling with you?" Clem asked.

Spike carefully kept his poker face and shrugged. "You're not to tell anyone about this," he warned.

Clem nodded. "When have I ever gone around and talked about the Slayer? She's a pretty nice girl. She's never tried to kill me or anything."

"Well, so long as you keep being the cuddliest demon of them all, she won't," Spike replied sarcastically.

Clem made a face at him. "Not like you've been eating anyone either," he retorted.

"Oi! Chip!" Spike exclaimed, tapping his head. "I don't have a choice. I can't. I'd eat a human in an instant, I would."

Clem burst out laughing. "Like you would ever do anything that'd make your Slayer mad."

"Not my Slayer," Spike argued instantly.

Clem sighed. "Doesn't mean you don't want her to be."

"Oh, shut up," Spike mumbled.

Clem grinned. "Spike and the Slayer, sitting in a tree-"

"Clem!"

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

" _Clem_!" Spike protested, mortified.

Clem gave him an innocent smile. "You can't deny you like her."

"I'll deny whatever I bloody well like," Spike replied, mostly just to be contradictory. "I don't like the Slayer."

Clem sighed. "You're a terrible liar."

"Oi! I'm a great liar!" Spike protested. "I'm the Big Bad. I'm evil, as evil as they come." Spike went into game face and growled. Clem just started laughing. "Okay, maybe I'm a little rusty, but-"

"You're not evil, Spike," Clem interrupted. "You haven't been evil for a while. Anyway, I don't even think you  _want_  to be evil. You want Buffy to love you, and she won't if you're off killing everything in sight."

"I hate it when you're right," Spike moaned.

Clem smiled slightly. "I've gotta go," he said, standing. "I'm gonna be late for a poker game. Wanna come?"

"Nah," Spike replied, getting up himself. "I'm gonna patrol. Maybe I'll meet up with the Slayer."

"First comes  _love_ ," Clem sang, laughing as Spike glared. "Then comes  _marriage_. Then comes Spikey with a baby carriage!"

"Don't call me Spikey," Spike protested. "And that's not possible. I'm undead. I can't impregnate anyone."

Clem shrugged. "We live on a Hellmouth. You never know."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Out, you pest." He made shooing motions with his hands. Clem just laughed and left, calling a farewell over his shoulder as he walked away from the crypt.

Spike stuck a stake in his coat pocket and left his crypt as well, walking in the opposite direction of Clem. It was barely past sundown, so Buffy would just be starting her patrol. That meant she would still be near the Magic Box, most likely. Spike went in that direction, hoping he'd meet up with the Slayer.

The patrol was mostly uneventful. Despite his best efforts, Spike never met up with Buffy. It wasn't until he was back in Restfield Cemetery that anything interesting happened.

"Spike," a voice snarled. "The traitor to his kind."

"Oh, piss off," Spike replied irritably. He was in no mood to listen to some vampire whine. Still, since Spike doubted the vampire would do as he asked, his hand fell into his pocket and gripped his stake.

"You're a disgrace to the Aurelian line," a second voice hissed.

Spike's lips quirked in a slight smile. "Two on one? That's fair."

"Make that three," a third voice spat. Slowly, three vampires prowled out of the darkness. Spike quickly sized them up. The male on the right looked the weakest. The female on the left was clearly newly-made. But the female in the middle looked like she could be a problem.

"What can I do for you this fine night?" Spike asked cordially, his grip on his stake tightening. The female in the middle laughed harshly.

"You can die," she told Spike. In a flash, all three vampires were on him.

Spike jerked his stake up and impaled the young female through the heart. "Paige!" the male cried out as she dusted.

"Concentrate, Nicholas," the other female warned. Nicholas turned to Spike with eyes full of hate.

"I'll kill you for that," he warned in a low voice.

Spike shrugged. "You can try," he replied.

Enraged, Nicholas threw himself at Spike. The fight lasted maybe half a minute, and when the dust settled, Spike was the one still standing.

"You're strong," the remaining vampire said coyly.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Are you flirting with me?"

The female spat. "Never!" she snarled, attacking viciously. This fight lasted longer, as this vampire was clearly older and more experienced than Nicholas had been. Still, it ended the same way, with Spike as the victor.

With a low groan, Spike made his way back to his crypt. The patrol had been a bust, at least in the way he wanted. Through the whole thing, no matter how much he searched, Spike hadn't been able to find Buffy.

As Spike opened the door to his crypt, he realized he had been looking too hard.

Sitting in his chair, biting her lip and twirling a stake in her hands, was Buffy.


	15. This Evening Has Been So Very Nice

Buffy couldn't believe it. She had stopped patrolling at Restfield so she could talk to Spike. A vampire. She was risking the lives of people all over Sunnydale so she could hash out her relationship issues. Buffy didn't want to think what that meant for her sanity.

After a while, when Spike still hadn't come, Buffy considered leaving. Spike wasn't downstairs - she had checked - and he didn't seem to be coming back to his crypt any time soon. Still, Buffy stayed. She had to talk with Spike, sooner rather than later.

Nervously, Buffy started twirling her stake in her hands. She had rehearsed what she was going to say to Spike. Of course, that didn't mean she actually  _remembered_  what she had rehearsed. Talking to her mirror had been easy. But now that she was sitting in Spike's crypt, in his armchair, she didn't know what to do.

"I hope that stake isn't so you can kill me, pet," a familiar voice called from the doorway. Buffy's head jerked up. Spike was looking at her with raised eyebrows. He had a bruise on his cheekbone and a slight trickle of blood coming from a cut above his eye, but other than that, he looked exactly as he had looked the night before.

 _No! Bad Buffy! No thinking about last night!_  Buffy admonished herself. "Don't be so full of yourself, Spike," she replied easily. "Mr. Pointy isn't going for you tonight."

"Hard not to be full of myself when I seem to be the Slayer's special exception," Spike replied with a grin as he went to heat himself up a mug of blood. Buffy wished he wouldn't do that in front of her.

"What do you need, pet?" Spike prompted when Buffy said nothing.

She jumped. "Um, I wanted to talk about last night."

Spike nodded. "I thought you would. What about it? Come to stake the big bad vampire for taking advantage of the itty bitty Slayer?" Spike took his mug out of his microwave. "And for the record, I did  _not_  take advantage of you. You threatened to stake me if I didn't give you alcohol, and I cut you off when you were really drunk. And I let you stay so nothing would happen to you on your way home."

"I didn't think you took advantage of me," Buffy replied. "I actually wanted to talk about the contest."

"Oh." Spike took a sip of his blood, trying to act nonchalant. "That. What about it?"

"Well, I said I wanted you as my partner…" Buffy's voice trailed off.

Spike's lips tugged up in a slight grin. "I'm not gonna hold you to a promise you made when you were drunk, pet."

"I still wanna do it with you."

No, no, no! That was  _not_  what Buffy was supposed to say. She was supposed to tell Spike that she didn't want to do the contest with him, that thanks for the offer but it wouldn't work, that she would figure something else out. She was  _not_  supposed to say that she wanted to do the contest with him!

And yet her mouth kept moving and words kept coming out.

"You told me to ask you again when I wasn't drunk. Well, I'm not drunk and I'm asking you. Spike, will you do the caroling contest with me?"

"Isn't it supposed be a sort of…relationship thing?" Spike asked cautiously. "A thing that boyfriends and girlfriends do?"

"Well, I'm currently depressingly single, and unless you've got some vampire chick I don't know about, so are you," Buffy replied. "We'll do it as friends. Acquaintances. Business associates. I don't know."

"Are you sure?" Spike asked. "I bet Whelp would do it with you. Or maybe you could make Red sing the guy part. She signed you up, after all. Or you could do it with Niblet and make it a sister bonding experience."

"Xander's got a very jealous girlfriend, Willow hates singing, and I would owe Dawn too much if I did it with her," Buffy replied. "Come on, Spike. It's either do it with you or do it alone."

To be honest, Buffy wasn't exactly expecting Spike to say yes at that point. That was why she was surprised when Spike smiled - a real, honest-to-God smile - and said, "Okay."

"Okay?" Buffy repeated stupidly.

Spike nodded. "Okay. I'll do the contest with you."

"Really?" Buffy asked.

Spike shrugged. "I could never resist a damsel in distress," he replied, giving Buffy a lewd look.

Buffy made a face. "Ew. Stop with the sexy eyes."

"My eyes are sexy?" Spike replied.

Buffy groaned. "No! Stop twisting my words!"

"Not much to twist. You said, and I quote, 'sexy eyes,'" Spike replied teasingly. His eyes were sparkling with mirth. And, to be fair, they were nice eyes.

"I meant bedroom eyes," Buffy replied. "Eyes that make it look like you want to have sex with me. Which is ew."

"Gotta love the way you use the English language, pet," Spike replied with a long-suffering sigh.

Buffy made a face. "Says Mister bloody-this and bloody-that and sodding-this and wanker-that," she retorted in a horrible imitation of Spike's accent.

"God, make it stop!" Spike replied, covering his ears as if in great pain. Buffy stuck her tongue out at him. That was when she realized she was having fun.

Fun.

With Spike.

"I've gotta go," Buffy said instantly, going over to the door. Spike frowned at the abrupt mood change. "You know, places to be, vampires to slay."

"I've patrolled everywhere already," Spike replied.

Buffy shrugged. "You never know when something'll slip under the radar. And I also have to get home before too late," Buffy added, desperately trying to come up with an excuse to leave at that moment. "But I'll be back tomorrow. So we can practice."

"See you then, pet," Spike replied.

Buffy wondered when he had started getting away with calling her that.


	16. Gosh, Your Lips Look Delicious

Goddamn it, the Slayer was beautiful.

Spike could think of nothing else when they practiced for the contest, now a mere three days away. He only had a few days left of practicing. After the contest, things would no doubt go back to normal, with Buffy avoiding Spike whenever possible. But for these past few glorious days, Buffy had spent time with Spike, sought him out, even. They had made a routine: once night fell, they patrolled together, then they went back to Spike's crypt to practice. It was a pattern Spike loved and relished as much as he could.

Spike wasn't an idiot. He knew the time with Buffy was short-lived. He knew that it wouldn't be long before they returned to their normal routine of hating each other's guts (or at least pretending to). But for this short time, they were almost friends.

The sun was just setting, and thus Spike was waiting in the upper level of his crypt. Buffy would come around soon, they would patrol, then they would practice singing together. They had almost perfected the song. Their voices were a perfect complement to each other, and Spike didn't even care that he tended to slip back into his original upper-class accent when he sang. What did he care if Buffy found out the Cockney accent was all for show? What did he care if she found out that he had been a man of status back before Drusilla killed him? What did he care if she found out that William the Bloody was short for William the Bloody Awful Poet?

Actually, he  _did_  care about that last bit. The longer his poetry could remain a secret, the better.

Spike caught a whiff of Buffy's scent and smiled. She was on her way. Grabbing his stake and slipping on his duster, Spike left the crypt to meet Buffy halfway. She was only a few tombstones away from his crypt when he stepped out. "'Lo, pet," he called over.

"Hey, Spike," Buffy replied. She looked a little nervous. "Um, after we patrol, I'm gonna need to go home. Mom organized a family movie night."

"No problem," Spike replied easily, although inside, he was crushed at the thought of missing a night with the Slayer. Buffy shifted her weight awkwardly. "What's wrong, Slayer?" Spike asked.

Buffy bit her lip. "Well, Dawn and my mom were both, um, wondering if you wanted to join us."

The second half of the sentence was said in a rush. Spike stared at Buffy, not sure if he'd heard her correctly. "What?"

"Mom and Dawn want to know if you want to join us for the movie night," Buffy repeated. "If you don't want to, that's totally fine. But, you know, if you did want to, you can."

Spike grinned slightly. "What do you think, pet?"

Buffy shrugged. "Well, Mom wants to hear us sing. I sort of let it slip that we were doing the contest together."

"Does anyone else know?" Spike asked.

Buffy shook her head. "No. Just Mom and Dawn. The others will just find out when we perform." Buffy shrugged awkwardly. "If you want to come to the movie night, that's fine with me."

Spike shrugged nonchalantly, trying to act like it was no big deal. "Yeah, might as well come. I wouldn't want to let Bit down."

"Why do you always give people nicknames?" Buffy asked.

Spike shrugged. "Dunno. I just do. Always have."

Buffy accepted that, but a moment later, she had another question. "What's my nickname?"

"What do you mean?" Spike asked. Buffy shrugged, trying too hard to seem nonchalant.

"Well, Willow is Red, Xander is Whelp, Tara is Glinda, Anya is Demon Girl, Giles is Ripper, Dawn is Bit, but what am I?"

"Slayer?" Spike offered. "Just Buffy?" Seeing, she didn't like either of those, his voice softened slightly as he added, "Pet?"

"Why do you call me that? I'm not a pet." Buffy's voice was mildly petulant.

Spike smiled slightly. "I'm not saying you're my pet. It's just a British thing. If you want me to do something else, I can."

"It's okay," Buffy replied. "I like pet, actually." Spike barely kept from jerking his eyebrows up. Buffy flushed a pale pink once the words left her lips. "I… I mean…"

"It's okay. No need to explain," Spike replied, saving Buffy from her attempts at stumbling over an explanation. The rest of the patrol went fairly quickly, and at the end, they went to Buffy's house instead of returning to Spike's crypt.

"Buffy, you're early!" Dawn called from the living room. She stepped out into the hall and saw Spike. "And you brought Spike!"

"What, you thought I could resist movie night with the Summers girls?" Spike asked, slipping into easy banter. "Perish the thought."

"Good thing I made enough cocoa for four," Joyce added, stepping out of the kitchen. "Hello, Spike."

"Hi, Joyce," Spike replied, smiling. "Need any help in the kitchen?"

"You're too sweet," Joyce replied, smiling back. "But if it wouldn't be any trouble…"

"It's no trouble at all," Spike replied, crossing the house and stepping into the kitchen. "What do you need?"

Joyce handed him two mugs of cocoa. "It's hard to carry four by myself."

"No problem," Spike replied, carrying the two mugs out to the living room.

Dawn grabbed one of the mugs as he passed her. "Thanks!" she chirped. Spike smiled fondly.

"So when do we get to hear you two sing?" Joyce asked. Spike looked over at Buffy.

"Give us a second to prepare," Buffy said, grabbing Spike by the sleeve and dragging him into the dining room. "What's with Nice-Guy-Spike?" she demanded in a whisper once they were out of earshot.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked.

Buffy gestured at the living room. "I mean the whole helping my mom thing and being nice with Dawn and all of that!"

"I like your family," Spike replied. "Your mum and little sis are nice to me, so I'm nice to them."

Buffy looked a little stung by the implication - if she were nice to Spike, he'd be nice back. "Let's go sing for my mom," she finally said, apparently electing to end the conversation. Spike allowed himself to be dragged into the other room, where he and Buffy performed their duet without a hitch. Joyce and Dawn clapped appreciatively once they were finished.

"You two sound lovely!" Joyce complimented. "Spike, I never knew you could sing!"

"Thanks, Joyce," Spike replied, ducking his head a bit to hide the embarrassed pleasure on his face.

Dawn caught it anyway. "Spike's  _embarrassed_ ," she called in a sing-song voice. Buffy looked at Spike with an arched eyebrow.

"Dawn!" Joyce scolded.

Spike waved a hand. "S'nothing, Joyce. Bit knows I've got blackmail on her too."

Dawn's eyes went wide. "You wouldn't  _dare_."

"Wouldn't I?" Spike asked. Grumbling a bit, Dawn leaned back into the cushions. Joyce watched the two of them with an amused smile on her face.

"Well, why don't you two come sit down?" she asked, beckoning to Buffy and Spike. Buffy sat on the couch, which was pretty squished with the three of them. Spike sat on the floor, leaning back between Dawn and Buffy's legs.

As Joyce started the movie, Spike reflected on the absurdity of the situation. A vampire, watching a Christmas film with the Slayer and her family. But as he took a sip of his cocoa - with extra mini marshmallows, as always - he had to admit he wouldn't change it for the world.


	17. I Wish I Knew How to Break This Spell

"Hey, Buffy?" Willow asked, sitting down next to her friend in the Magic Box. "Who are you going to do your duet with? I mean, in the contest?"

"Will…" Buffy protested. The caroling contest was the next day, but Buffy still hadn't told her friends she would be doing it with Spike. She knew they would find out when they went on stage together, but for some reason, she didn't want to tell them.

"Come on, Buff," Xander piped in. "Let's hear about your mysterious boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Buffy corrected immediately. Willow raised an eyebrow. "Really," Buffy added. "He's not."

"Tell us about him!" Willow urged.

Buffy sighed. "Well, you guys know him," she started.

Willow frowned. "Like,  _know_  him or just kinda know him?"

Buffy frowned. "Um, what's the difference?"

"Well, if we  _know_  him, then he's like a friend or something. But if we just kinda know him, then he's someone that we might recognize on the street, but we don't really know. Get it?"

"He's someone you  _know_ ," Buffy replied, putting the same emphasis on the last word that Willow had.

"Ooh, give us another clue!" Willow begged.

Buffy sighed. "Um…" She couldn't think of anything that wouldn't give it away. "He's a good singer."

"Have we ever heard him sing before?" Xander asked.

Buffy shrugged. "I doubt it."

"Well that's not very helpful," Willow put in, pouting.

Tara put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Willow, I don't think Buffy wants to tell us who it is." Buffy felt a surge of affection for Tara.

"Yes, it's clear Buffy wants to keep her secret boyfriend a secret," Anya added from behind the counter. "And she probably has some secret orgasms she wants to keep secret too."

"There haven't been any orgasms!" Buffy protested.

Anya shrugged. "Your loss."

"Um, what exactly have I walked into the middle of?" Giles asked as he stepped out of the basement.

"Buffy won't tell us who her secret caroling partner is!" Willow protested immediately. "Giles, make her tell us!"

"Willow, I hardly think I can make Buffy do anything she doesn't want to do," Giles replied. Willow pouted.

"If Buff wants it to be a surprise, we shouldn't push her," Xander added. Knowing it would take more than that to get Willow off the warpath, he added, "Willow, is that a new necklace?"

Willow nodded. "I got it for Hanukkah," she replied. With that, Xander drew her into a conversation about gifts, both what they had gotten and what they were giving. Buffy shot Xander a thankful look and he smiled in response.

"Buffy?" Tara asked, sliding into Willow's abandoned seat next to Buffy.

"Yeah?" Buffy asked.

Tara shifted slightly. "Um, your c-caroling partner," she whispered. "I-is it Spike?"

Buffy was fairly certain her face went white. "How did you know?"

"S-so it is?" Tara confirmed. Buffy nodded. "I-I thought so."

"It's not like we're together or anything," Buffy hastened to explain. "I just needed a partner and he's a good singer and alcohol was involved for part of it so-"

"I'm n-not blaming you, B-Buffy," Tara stuttered. "H-he's not so b-bad, really. H-he's actually kinda nice."

"Spike?" Buffy asked derisively. "Are we talking about the same vampire?"

"H-he proved I w-wasn't a demon," Tara countered. Buffy couldn't deny that. "A-and he's always b-been nice to me. A-anyway, didn't you date a vampire b-before?"

"Angel had a soul," Buffy replied, her automatic response to accusations about Angel. "He didn't kill people. He was good."

"S-Spike doesn't have a s-soul, but he's good too," Tara replied. "He d-doesn't kill people. Even with the c-chip, he could find a way. B-but he doesn't."

"But he doesn't have a soul," Buffy insisted. "It's not like Angel."

"S-soul or no, Spike's a good man," Tara replied. Then Willow called her name and she was dragged into the conversation. Buffy looked out the window and saw that darkness had arrived.

"Time to patrol," she announced. The others all waved goodbye to her as she left the Magic Box.

 _Spike's a good man._  Tara's words echoed in her head.  _Spike's a good man._ But he couldn't be a good man. Spike wasn't even a man, he was a vampire. He was dead. Undead. Whatever.

 _He's not so bad, really. He's actually kinda nice._  Buffy had replied with a sarcastic comment there, but she had to admit Tara had a bit of a point. Not much of one, but a bit of one. Spike hadn't been that bad whenever Buffy spent time with him, and he was agreeing to do this contest with her when he had no reason to do so. He had been a perfect gentleman at movie night. He had rested his head on Dawn's knee and sipped his cocoa, never even looking at Buffy's legs on his left. Joyce liked him, Dawn liked him, Tara liked him, and Buffy…

Nope. No way. Buffy was not  _friends_  with a vampire. She most definitely  _didn't_  care for him. Not a bit.

"Slayer?"

Damn, that was Spike. "Speak of the devil," Buffy muttered to herself. Then she called back, "Over here."

"You're a bit late," Spike remarked. Buffy shrugged.

"I was hanging out at the Magic Box," she replied. "Everyone wants to know who my mysterious caroling partner is."

"Did you tell them?" Spike asked. Buffy shook her head.

"They'll find out tomorrow, I guess. They all think I'm doing the contest with my new boyfriend or something. But I told them that was totally wrong and totally crazy. I mean, ew." Even as she said the words, Buffy found she didn't quite believe them. Would it really be that terrible to date Spike? But that was a crazy thought and she shut it down immediately.

Spike looked away. "Yeah," he replied, but his heart wasn't in it. Buffy's eyes went wide. That couldn't mean… Spike didn't… He wasn't…

Was Spike in love with her?

It would explain a lot. How nice he was, that he was doing the contest with her, how he had acted that night when she was drunk… It was crazy, but it might just be true.

But Buffy wasn't in love with him. No, sir. Not in love.

Not even a little bit.


	18. I Thrill When You Touch My Hand

After patrol finished, Spike and Buffy returned to Spike's crypt. Buffy had been giving Spike strange looks all through the patrol, as if she were trying to puzzle something out. Spike didn't like it.

He had been a fool with how disheartened he had sounded when Buffy had been disgusted at the very thought of them dating. She  _had_  to have noticed. That had to be why she was giving him strange looks. She knew. Oh God, she knew.

"Spike? Earth to Spike?" Buffy waved her hand in front of Spike's face.

He jumped. "What?"

"I thought we were going to practice, not zone out," Buffy replied in a playfully scolding voice.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Quit whining, you pesky chit. If you want to practice, then start singing."

Buffy sighed and sang her first line. Spike sang his line back almost without thinking. He knew the song by heart and he knew when to sing. That meant his mind could be free to think of other things. Like the fact that Buffy potentially knew his secret.

What would she do? She hadn't done anything yet, which was what was keeping Spike's hope alive that his secret was still a secret. But if she did find out, Spike would be dust. Nothing would be able to save him. Joyce and Dawn would probably hate him too. No one wanted a vampire for an in-law.

"Oops!" Buffy squeaked, dragging Spike from his thoughts. "Wrong line! Let's start back at the beginning of the second verse." She sang her line and Spike sang back. This time, he put a bit more effort into concentrating, but it wasn't enough. If Buffy knew, he was screwed. In fact, he had better leave town. After the contest, of course, but before Buffy could stake him for loving her. That would be best.

"Spike?" Buffy sounded a little worried. "Spike, you okay?"

"I'm fine, pet," Spike replied automatically. "What is it?"

"The song finished like a minute ago and you haven't said anything," Buffy replied, raising an eyebrow.

Spike shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

 _About how you know I'm in love with you_. No, Spike couldn't say that. On the off chance that she  _hadn't_  found out, that would tell her. And if she was doubting it, that would cement it. "Just thinking about how Christmas is coming up."

"Did you go present shopping?" Buffy asked teasingly. Spike raised an eyebrow.

Buffy perched on the arm of his chair. Spike supposed that meant he couldn't sit down. "What did you do on Christmas when you were little?"

"I was poor-" Spike began, ready to start an elaborate lie.

Buffy cut him off. "No, you weren't."

"Who are you to tell me that?" Spike demanded.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "When you sing, you sound like Giles." At Spike's outraged expression, Buffy quickly corrected herself. "I mean, you have the same sort of accent. You sound educated. Upper-class. When I asked you about killing the Slayers, I know you didn't tell me the truth. Or the whole story. So tell me know. I wanna know."

"Bossy chit," Spike muttered, but there was no venom. "Right. I wasn't that rich. My mum and I, we were on the lower end of the upper-class spectrum. That's why Cecily thought I was, you know…" Spike's voice trailed off.

Buffy nodded. "I remember."

Grateful he didn't have to say the words or hear them, Spike continued. "The tree didn't get decorated until Christmas Eve. We would only have a little one. Mum and I would decorate. Remember when you came to get drunk and you started asking about one of my ornaments?"

"Vaguely," Buffy replied. "You said it was old."

"It is old," Spike replied. "That's the only ornament I have left from when I was little."

"So the kid on that was baby you?" Buffy asked.

Spike nodded. "And the woman was my mum. Anne, her name was. Best mum you could ask for. Although I bet Joyce could give her a run for her money. You're lucky to have a mum like yours, you are."

"I know," Buffy replied softly.

Spike sighed. "What do you want to know, exactly?"

Buffy shrugged. "Tell me about Christmas. What did you do? You said the tree went up on Christmas Eve. What else did you do that night?"

"Mum and I would go to church," Spike replied. Buffy raised an eyebrow. "I'll have you know I was a good, church-going man!" Spike protested. "We went to the Christmas Eve service and then we'd go again on Christmas morning."

"What about presents?" Buffy demanded.

Spike shrugged. "We didn't do much. Mum might give me a book or something she knitted for me. I'd give her a little trinket." Spike smiled slightly as a memory came to him. "One year, when I was twelve, I bought her this nice necklace. It was a locket, see, shaped like a rose. Cost a bloody fortune. I saw it in the beginning of November. The shopkeeper took pity on me and told me she would put locket aside for a while so I could get the money. I barely scraped it up in time. I spent every cent of my savings on that locket. But it was worth it. The look on my mum's face when she opened it is something I'll never forget. She put a lock of my hair in it."

"What happened to the locket?" Buffy asked softly.

Spike smiled slightly. "It's downstairs," he replied. "Managed to keep it safe from Dru and the others for years. Now I have it in a drawer downstairs. Pretty little thing, it is. Still in good condition. Damn good quality."

"Wow." Buffy smiled slightly. "Sounds like your Christmases were nice."

"That they were, pet," Spike replied, smiling a little. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Buffy countered.

Spike shrugged. "What does Buffy Summers do for Christmas?"

As Buffy began to answer, Spike had a thought. It was crazy, it might end up with him getting staked, but he thought he just might do it.

After all, he needed a Christmas present for his Slayer.


	19. There's Bound to Be Talk Tomorrow

"Oh God," Buffy whispered. "I can't do this."

"S'alright, pet," Spike replied, his voice comforting. "We'll be fine. We know the song."

"It's not the song!" Buffy protested. "My friends will flip!" Buffy didn't regret choosing Spike as her partner, per say, but she didn't want her friends to freak out. Which they would. Undoubtedly. Oh God.

"Your mates will understand," Spike replied. "Anyway, it's not their decision who you decide to sing with. And it's not like this is anything big. Just a contest."

"A couples caroling contest!" Buffy protested. "For couples!"

"We're not a couple," Spike replied. He was far too calm about the whole thing.

Buffy let out a terrified squeak as the next two names were called. "We're next!"

"Calm down," Spike urged. "You can't sing when you're having a nervous breakdown."

"But my friends-"

"Don't worry about them," Spike soothed. "They'll be fine with it. I mean, Whelp's dating an ex-vengeance demon, so he doesn't have much room to judge. And Glinda will be okay with it, which means she can convince Red not to freak out."

"What about Giles?" Buffy protested.

Spike sighed. "Rupes will understand that we're not dating. And honestly, is he out there?"

"Yeah," Buffy replied.

Spike chuckled. "Ripper's in the Bronze."

Buffy giggled slightly. "Yeah. My mom's out there too. She didn't think she was going to come, but Dawn managed to persuade her."

"Well, your mum and Bit should be on our side, so that's two. Plus Glinda, so that's three. I doubt Demon Girl will mind, so that's four against Whelp, Red, and Ripper."

"Plus the two of us," Buffy added.

Spike nodded. "Six against three. They won't have a chance."

"Get ready, you guys!" one of the Bronze workers hissed, gesturing at the stage. Buffy gulped. She was not ready for this.

"You'll be alright, pet," Spike whispered. Buffy nodded. They could hear the applause as the couple before them ended.

"And now," the announcer called as the worker shooed Buffy and Spike onstage, "we have Buffy and Spike!"

Buffy scanned the crowd, her stomach twisting. Xander looked shocked. Giles was cleaning his glasses as if that would change what he'd just heard. Willow's eyes were wide. But Anya didn't look surprised, and Tara, Dawn, and Joyce looked happy.

"We'll be singing  _Baby, It's Cold Outside_ ," Spike said, in response to the announcer's question. Buffy hadn't even heard it. Spike shot her an encouraging smile as the music started up in the background.

" _I really can't stay!_ " Buffy sang, her voice wavering slightly.

" _But baby, it's cold outside_ ," Spike crooned back.

" _I've got to go away._ " Buffy forced her voice to be stronger. She was Buffy Summers, and she was going to win this competition.

" _But baby, it's cold outside!_ " Spike protested. He didn't sound affected by nerves at all. Buffy resolved that she wouldn't be either.

" _This evening has been-_ "

" _Been hoping that you'd drop in,_ " Spike cut in.

" _So very nice,_ " Buffy finished.

" _I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice._ "

" _My mother will start to worry._ " Buffy shot Joyce a smile that she returned.

" _Beautiful, what's your hurry?_ "

" _My father will be pacing the floor._ " Buffy looked at Giles imploringly. His shocked expression had softened and he smiled slightly.

" _Listen to the fireplace roar._ "

" _So really I'd better scurry._ " On a whim, Buffy decided to try out some of the acting she and Spike had done on a few silly occasions. She turned away.

" _Beautiful, please don't hurry,_ " Spike begged, putting a hand on her shoulder.

" _But maybe just a half a drink more,_ " Buffy relinquished, turning back around.

Spike was smiling at her. " _Put some records on while I pour._ "

" _The neighbors might think…_ "

" _Baby, it's bad out there!_ "

" _Say, what's in this drink?_ "

" _No cabs to be had out there._ "

" _I wish I knew how-_ "

" _Your eyes are like starlight_ ," Spike put in, sounding desperately honest.

" _To break this spell._ "

" _I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell._ " Spike twirled a lock of Buffy's hair on his finger.

Buffy smiled. " _I ought to say no, no, no, sir_." Buffy wagged a finger at Spike, who just took a step towards her.

" _Mind if I move in closer?_ "

" _At least I'm gonna say that I tried_." Buffy leaned up against Spike.

" _What's the sense in hurting my pride?_ " he asked, smiling down at her.

" _I really can't stay._ "

" _Baby, don't hold out._ "

" _Oh, but it's cold outside!_ " Buffy sang, just as Spike sang," _Baby, it's cold outside!_ "

There was a pause before the second verse began. Buffy almost looked over into the audience, but Spike's eyes told her not to. He was right. She couldn't let her attention waver.

" _I simply must go,_ " she sang, turning as if to leave.

" _But baby, it's cold outside!_ " Spike sang beseechingly.

" _The answer is no._ "

" _But baby, it's cold outside!_ "

" _This welcome has been-_ "

" _How lucky that you dropped in._ "

" _So nice and warm._ "

" _Look out the window at that storm!_ " Spike mimed looking out a window and Buffy shivered.

" _My sister will be suspicious._ "

" _Gosh, your lips look delicious._ " Spike's eyes were trained on her lips as she sang. Buffy wondered how much of it was for show.

" _My brother will be there at the door._ "

" _Waves upon a tropical shore._ "

" _My maiden aunt's mind is vicious._ "

" _Ooh, your lips are delicious_ ," Spike sang, leaning in slightly.

" _But maybe just a cigarette more,_ " Buffy sang, wondering what exactly Spike was doing.

He straightened again. " _Never such a blizzard before_."

" _I've got to get home._ "

" _But baby, you'll freeze out there._ " Spike clasped his hands as if in prayer.

" _Say, lend me your coat._ " Buffy reached for Spike's duster.

He took the hand she held out in his own. " _It's up to your knees out there._ "

" _You've really been grand-_ "

" _I thrill when you touch my hand_." Spike brought Buffy's hand up to his lips and gave it a soft kiss.

" _But don't you see…_ " Buffy found she absolutely didn't mind the intimacy. How strange.

" _How can you do this thing to me?_ "

" _There's bound to be talk tomorrow._ " And oh, God, there would be talk when Buffy rejoined her friends.

" _Think of my life long sorrow_." Spike gave Buffy the saddest pout she had ever seen.

" _At least there will be plenty implied._ "

" _If you caught pneumonia and died._ " Spike did sound truly desperate. He was good at this.

" _I really can't stay._ "

" _Get over that hold out._ "

" _Oh, but it's cold outside!_ " Buffy sang, as Spike finished with," _Baby it's cold outside!_ " Her voice went down while Spike's went up. They held the last trembling note for a moment, then stopped. Only then did Buffy look out at the audience.

Xander still looked slightly shocked, but Willow was clapping with Tara. Anya clapped as well. Even Giles was clapping. So was almost everyone else in the Bronze. The noise was thunderous.

Spike took Buffy's hand and they ducked offstage. They were the last couple to go, so they joined the others, waiting for the results.

A few minutes later, the announcer went back onstage. "While every one of the contestants did a great job, there can only be one winning couple," he began. "And that couple is… Buffy and Spike!"

"Oh my God!" Buffy squeaked, jumping into Spike's arms.

He gave her a tight hug. "We did it, pet," he whispered in her ear.

Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw her friends, all beaming. Even Xander had a smile on his face.

Yes, Buffy had some explaining to do, but she didn't think it would be as bad as she feared.


	20. Baby, It's Cold Outside

After receiving their prize - a gift card to the Bronze's restaurant and bar - Spike and Buffy went over to Buffy's friends and joined in with their celebrating.

"Well, your partner was unexpected!" Willow mentioned as she hugged Buffy. Spike wondered if he were going to get a stake to the heart. "But you two sounded good."

"Was that a compliment?" Spike asked, shocked.

Willow sighed. "Don't push it," she warned, but there was a playful edge to her voice. Spike smirked.

"I-I thought you two were great," Tara stuttered.

Spike smiled at her. "Thanks, Glinda."

"I thought we were pretty good too," Buffy said with a smile. She still stood a careful distance away from Spike.

"You were wonderful," Joyce said with a smile. She embraced Buffy first, then, to everyone's shock, she hugged Spike.

"Um, yes, you did quite a good job," Giles added, hugging Buffy and awkwardly patting Spike on the shoulder.

"Now I know why you said there are no orgasms," Anya stated frankly. "But perhaps you should. I think you two-"

"Okay, thanks for that, Ahn," Xander interrupted quickly. He smiled at Buffy. "I'm not a huge fan of Evil Dead as your partner, but you sounded good."

Buffy beamed. Spike knew it was the best he would get. He was surprised it had even been that positive, to be honest. "I'm glad you guys liked it," Buffy said with a smile. "We've been working really hard."

"Almost every night after patrol," Spike added. Buffy nodded earnestly.

"Shouldn't you two be on patrol around now?" Dawn asked.

Buffy looked at her watch. "Yeah, probably," she replied.

Spike put a hand on her arm to stay her movement. "I can do it myself. Stay here with your mates."

"Really?" Buffy asked.

Spike nodded. "Have some fun. I'll deal with the vamps and demons."

"Thanks, Spike." In an unexpected move, Buffy hugged Spike quickly. "Thanks for everything."

"Oh, no problem, Slayer," Spike replied, a little shocked by the embrace. "I'll, um, go patrol now."

Patrol was uneventful. Spike staked a few vampires before returning to his crypt. Before he even opened the door, a familiar scent hit him and he smiled. Buffy was there.

"Hi," Buffy said as he opened the door.

Spike smiled at her. "'Lo, pet. What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to thank you again for the contest," Buffy replied. "Oh, and also my mom wanted to know if you wanted to come over for Christmas tomorrow. I think she's adopting you as the son she never had."

"Well I'm not complaining about that," Spike replied with a slightly nervous laugh. "Tell your mum I'll be there."

"Okay," Buffy replied. She made no move to leave.

"Can I show you something?" Spike asked suddenly, moving towards the trap door.

Buffy frowned, looking confused. "What?"

"Just come down. It's a Christmas surprise," Spike replied. With a shrug, Buffy followed him.

When they reached the lower level, Spike took his childhood ornament and handed it to Buffy. "I thought you might like to see," he told her, his voice almost shy. "The woman is my mum, Anne. The kid is me. I was around seven."

"You're so cute!" Buffy cooed, looking at the picture. "The curly brown hair is adorable."

"And, um, I also want you to see this," Spike added. He handed Buffy a small box.

She frowned slightly as she set the ornament aside. "What is it?"

"Just look, would you?" Spike demanded.

Buffy opened the box. "Is this the locket?" she asked in a hushed voice as she looked inside.

Spike nodded. "Pretty, right? Still in good condition for being almost as old as I am."

"Well, you're in pretty good condition," Buffy joked.

Spike smiled slightly. "Thanks, love." Buffy gave Spike a surprised look. "I, um, I mean pet."

"Did you just call me 'love'?" Buffy asked.

Spike avoided her eyes. "It's a British thing," he protested. Buffy raised an eyebrow. "It is!"

"I like your little British things," was all Buffy said. Spike puzzled to figure out what that meant as Buffy found the catch on the side of the locket. "Can I?" she asked, gesturing.

Spike nodded. "Just be careful."

Gently, Buffy popped open the locket. "Is this your hair?" she asked softly, her finger lightly ghosting over the lock of hair.

Spike nodded. "Um, yeah."

Buffy grinned. "It's darker than I thought it would be. I guess you didn't have peroxide blonde hair when you were little." Buffy reached up as if to twirl a bit of Spike's hair, but he pulled away before she could. "Does it still grow? Or are you stuck as a bleached menace?"

"Cheeky little bint," Spike muttered. "And it does grow. Slowly. Do you think I should stop dying it?"

"I wanna see it curly," Buffy replied.

Spike grinned. "I'll come over tomorrow without styling it."

Buffy beamed. "I can't wait." Buffy closed the locket and slipped her fingers over it gently. "This is beautiful."

"Close your eyes, pet," Spike said softly.

Buffy looked up at him. "Why? Are you gonna do something evil?" There was obvious humor in her voice.

Spike just gave Buffy a look. "No. Just trust me."

Buffy slowly closed her eyes. Spike took the locket and gently put it on Buffy, latching the back and letting it fall against her chest. "Open your eyes," he whispered.

Buffy's eyes opened and she gasped. "Spike, what-"

"I want you to have it," Spike interrupted.

Buffy looked at him in shock. "I couldn't," she whispered. She moved her hand up to take the locket off.

Spike grabbed it to stop her. "Please, Buffy. I want you to have it. All that happens with it now is it gets hidden away in a box. I want you to wear it."

"Spike, it's your mother's," Buffy protested. "I couldn't."

"Please," Spike said simply.

Buffy looked down, her fingers sliding over the chain. "Thank you," she whispered. Spike took a small step forward.

Then they were kissing and Spike wasn't entirely sure who started it (although he  _thought_  it was Buffy), but all he knew was that kissing Buffy was as wonderful as he had always thought it would be.

"Wow," Buffy said breathlessly as she pulled away.

"Wow," Spike echoed, still lost in a sea of bliss.

"We should have done that a long time ago," Buffy said softly, and she pulled Spike in for another kiss.

Spike was the happiest man in the world.

* * *

The next morning, Spike traveled to Buffy's house via the sewers, his hair not styled, as promised. Buffy opened the door with a wide smile, wearing the locket.

"Merry Christmas, Spike!"

"Happy Christmas to you too, pet," Spike replied. Upon hearing his voice, Dawn raced out of the living room and threw herself at him, almost knocking him back into the sunlight. "Careful, Niblet," Spike warned.

"Oops. Sorry, Spike." Only then did Dawn notice Spike's bulging pockets. "Did you get me something?"

"Dawnie!" Buffy protested, but Spike just laughed.

"Let's go in the other room," he suggested.

Joyce was in there, beaming at Spike. "Merry Christmas," she told him.

Spike smiled. "Happy Christmas to you too," he replied. He pulled a present for her out of his pocket. "Here. For you."

Joyce unwrapped the present and gasped. "Oh, Spike, it's beautiful," she whispered, pulling out a lovely cashmere scarf. "Where did you get it?"

"I went shopping. And I paid and everything, Slayer."

"Never said you didn't," Buffy replied.

Spike tossed a smaller box over to Dawn. "Hope you like 'em," he told her as she ripped off the paper.

"They're gorgeous!" Dawn gasped as she opened the box. Inside was a pair of earrings the exact shade of Dawn's eyes. Spike had thought she would like them. Suddenly, he found himself holding an armful of Dawn. "Thank you," she whispered.

"No problem," he replied.

"We have a present for you too, Spike," Joyce said, handing a bag over to Spike.

He took off the tissue paper and laughed. "Oh, Joyce, you know just what to get." Inside was a large mug, a box of hot chocolate mix, and a bag of mini-marshmallows.

"I picked out the mug," Dawn put it. Spike pulled it out. The mug had a Christmas wreath and said underneath "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

Spike laughed. "I love it, Niblet."

"Here's my gift for you," Buffy told Spike. Rather than handing him anything, she sat on his lap and gave him a tender kiss.

"I love you guys!" Dawn squeaked as they pulled apart. Everyone laughed.

"I hope you two are happy together," Joyce added.

Spike smiled at Buffy. "I think we will be," he replied.

Buffy nestled her head into Spike's chest. "Merry Christmas, Spike."

"Happy Christmas, love," Spike replied.

Buffy looked up at him. "Why do British people say 'Happy Christmas' instead of 'Merry Christmas'?" she asked. "It's weird and-"

Spike kissed Buffy again. "Go with it," he whispered. Buffy nestled against him again, her head above Spike's unbeating heart.

"Happy Christmas," Spike whispered again. And really, what else was there to say?

**Author's Note:**

> http://www.egglesscooking.com/vegan-double-chocolate-banana-muffins-recipe/


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